Doctoral Dissertation Research in Economics: The Effects of Gender and Racial Stereotypes on Math Confidence, Effort, and Achievement

该奖项全部或部分由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。在STEM的参与和成就方面存在着巨大而持久的性别和种族差距，以及关于种族和性别的学术刻板印象。本项目旨在了解向中小学生提供信息的影响，以消除围绕STEM中代表性不足群体的参与和成就的负面刻板印象和社会规范-特别是这些信息对学生的信心，STEM参与和成就的影响。虽然研究表明，对能力的刻板印象影响成年人对STEM的信心和参与，但这些刻板印象出现的年龄要小得多。本研究将评估在学生教育轨迹早期干预这些负面刻板印象的影响，这可能比成人干预更有效和更持久。除了增加STEM的多样性和鼓励所有学生获得更平等的机会外，缩小STEM参与中的性别和种族差距有望提高该行业的生产力和创新，并减少工资差距，因为超过90%的STEM职业的工资高于全国平均水平。因此，缩小STEM参与的差距是美国政府以及STEM领域的商业领袖和专业组织的首要任务。这项研究的结果可以指导政策，以缩小STEM的种族和性别差距，从而增加STEM劳动力的供应。这将促进经济增长，减少贫困，并减少美国的收入不平等。这项研究将为刻板印象在创造STEM成就差距中的作用提供第一个实验证据。它还将为刻板印象造成这些影响的机制提供新的证据；具体来说，刻板印象对自信、对反馈的参与和反应以及努力的影响。这项研究采用了随机干预——一系列视频和练习，这些视频和练习提供了抵消普遍存在的负面学术刻板印象的信息——在一个领先的在线学习平台上传递给学生，以研究这些问题。学生在平台上的行为将提供学生努力、学习策略和参与反馈的高频测量。其他结果将在一项调查中进行测量，该调查也将整合到平台中，该平台将提供心理测量和揭示偏好的数学兴趣，信心和对刻板印象的认可。最后，学生的成绩将通过标准化考试成绩来衡量。实验组和对照组学生之间结果的差异将传递干预的效果，而大量考虑的结果将用于测试各种机制，解释种族和性别刻板印象对数学成绩的影响。这项研究的结果可以指导政策，以缩小STEM的种族和性别差距，从而增加STEM劳动力的供应。这将促进经济增长，减少贫困，并减少美国的收入不平等。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).There are large, persistent gender and race gaps in STEM participation and achievement, as well as persistent academic stereotypes about race and gender. This project seeks to understand the effects of providing information to elementary and middle school students to counteract the negative stereotypes and social norms surrounding the participation and achievement of under-represented groups in STEM – particularly the effects of this information on students’ confidence, STEM engagement, and achievement. While research show that stereotypes about ability matter for adults’ confidence and participation in STEM, these stereotypes emerge at much younger ages. This study will evaluate the impacts of intervening against these negative stereotypes early in students’ educational trajectory, which may be more effective and more long-lasting than intervening with adults. In addition to increasing diversity in STEM and encouraging more equal opportunities for all students, closing the gender and race gaps in STEM engagement is expected to improve productivity and innovation in the sector and reduce wage gaps, since more than 90 percent of STEM occupations offer wages above the national average. Closing gaps in STEM participation is thus a top priority for the US government as well as business leaders and professional organizations in STEM fields. The results of this research could guide policies to close the racial and gender STEM gaps and thus increase the supply of STEM workforce. This will increase economic growth, decrease poverty as well as decrease income inequality in the US.This study will provide the first experimental evidence on the role of stereotypes in creating gaps in STEM achievement. It will also provide novel evidence on the mechanisms through which stereotypes cause these effects; specifically, the effects of stereotypes on confidence, engagement with and responsiveness to feedback, and effort. This research uses a randomized intervention – a series of videos and exercises that provide information to counteract prevailing negative academic stereotypes – delivered to students on a leading online learning platform to study these issues. Student behavior on the platform will provide high-frequency measures of student effort, learning strategies, and engagement with feedback. Additional outcomes will be measured in a survey, also integrated into the platform, which will provide psychometric and revealed-preference measures of math interest, confidence, and endorsement of stereotypes. Finally, student achievement will be measured using standardized test scores. Differences in outcomes between treated and control students will deliver the effect of the intervention, and the large set of considered outcomes will be used to test various mechanisms that explain the effect of race and gender stereotypes on math achievement. The results of this research could guide policies to close the racial and gender STEM gaps and thus increase the supply of STEM workforce. This will increase economic growth, decrease poverty as well as decrease income inequality in the US.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.