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

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。在STEM的参与和成就方面，存在着巨大的、持续的性别和种族差距，以及持续存在的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效果，以抵消围绕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参与度和成就的影响。虽然研究表明，关于能力的刻板印象对成年人在STEM中的信心和参与很重要，但这些刻板印象出现在更年轻的年龄。这项研究将评估在学生教育轨迹早期对这些负面刻板印象进行干预的影响，这可能比对成年人进行干预更有效、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预计将提高该部门的生产率和创新，并缩小工资差距，因为90%以上的STEM职业的工资高于全国平均水平。因此，缩小STEM参与方面的差距是美国政府以及STEM领域的商界领袖和专业组织的首要任务。这项研究的结果可以指导缩小STEM种族和性别差距的政策，从而增加STEM劳动力的供应。这将促进美国的经济增长，减少贫困，减少收入不平等。这项研究将提供第一个实验证据，证明刻板印象在STEM成就中造成差距的作用。它还将为陈规定型观念造成这些影响的机制提供新的证据；具体地说，陈规定型观念对信心、对反馈和努力的参与和反应的影响。这项研究使用了随机干预-一系列视频和练习，提供信息来抵消普遍存在的负面学术刻板印象-在一个领先的在线学习平台上提供给学生，以研究这些问题。该平台上的学生行为将提供学生努力、学习策略和反馈参与程度的高频测量。其他结果将在一项调查中进行衡量，该调查也将整合到该平台中，该平台将提供数学兴趣、信心和对刻板印象的认可的心理测量和揭示偏好测量。最后，将使用标准化考试分数来衡量学生的成绩。接受治疗的学生和对照组学生之间的结果差异将产生干预的效果，大量考虑的结果将被用来测试解释种族和性别刻板印象对数学成绩影响的各种机制。这项研究的结果可以指导缩小STEM种族和性别差距的政策，从而增加STEM劳动力的供应。这将促进美国的经济增长，减少贫困，减少收入不平等。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.