March 22, 2010

A report by the American Association of University Women (and supported by the National Science Foundation) has found that stereotypes and cultural biases continue to impede women's progress in the sciences (specifically in the STEM fields: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). For their report, they reviewed decades of applicable research studies. One study of postdoctoral applicants found that women had to publish three more papers in prestigious journals or 20 more in less-known publications to be judged as productive as male applicants. They also found studies that concluded that girls' performance suffers from any suggestion that they're not as good at math. In one experiment, college students with strong math backgrounds and similar abilities were divided into two groups and given a math test. One group was told that men perform better on the test, while the other was told there was no gender difference in the performance. In the group that was told that men do better, men indeed do better -- the men had an average score of 25 while the women's score was 5. In the group that was told there was no difference, women scored 17 and men 19. Another study found that any suggestion of advantage based on gender affects results, even where there is no cultural stereotype. In this experiment, the researchers tested men and women's "contrast sensitivity ability" -- which is a skill they made up. When men and women were in a group that was told there was no difference between the sexes in this ability, they rated their own ability equally. But the group that was told that men were better at this ability, men rated their skills far higher than women did.

Women are also underrepresented in the STEM fields. Harvard just tenured their first female math professor, after 375 years. The report found that women are earning a growing share of the doctorates in the STEM fields, but they do not show up a decade later in a proportionate number of tenured faculty positions. In a survey of 1,200 female and minority chemists and chemical engineers, two-thirds cited the persistent stereotype that STEM fields are not for girls or minorities as the leading contributor to their underrepresentation. Many in the survey said that they had been discouraged from going into their field in college, most often by a professor. Mae C. Jamison, who is a chemical engineer and the first African-American female astronaut, said, "My professors were not that excited to see me in their classes. When I would ask a question, they would just look at me like, 'Why are you asking that?' But when a white boy down the row would ask the very same question, they'd say 'astute observation.'" The university women's report found that girls have less confidence in their math abilities than boys with equal achievement levels. As most people choose careers where they believe they can do well, girls' lesser belief in their skills may partly explain why fewer young women go into these fields.

The report acknowledges that there are differences in male and female brains. But the lead author of the study said, "None of the research convincingly links those differences to specific skills, so we don't know what they mean in terms of mathematical abilities." The report found that at the top level of math abilities, where boys are overrepresented, that the gender gap is rapidly decreasing. Among "mathematically precocious youth" [those kids sound like a handful!], who are 6th and 7th graders who score more than 700 on the math SAT, boys had outnumbered girls 13-to-1 thirty years ago; today it's only about 3-to-1. The lead author said, "That's not biology at play, it doesn't change so fast. Even if there are biological factors in boys outnumbering girls, they're clearly not the whole story. There's a real danger in assuming that innate differences are important in determining who will succeed, so we looked at the cultural factors."

The report also suggested recommendations. They found that small things can make a difference, like teaching children that math ability is not fixed, but instead improves with effort. They also said that teaching girls about how stereotypes affect performance can diminish the effects of gender disparity in testing and achievement. The report also stressed the need for more female mentors and role models. (Full Story)