CAREER: Bridging the gender gap by investigating and counteracting the influence of gender brilliance stereotypes on girls’ STEM participation

对智力人才的需求增加突显了对更多女性科学家的需求，但在科学、技术和经济领域，女性的比例一直偏低。一种普遍存在的将智力才能与男性而不是女性联系在一起的刻板印象是一种强大的文化信息，它在一定程度上导致了这种性别差距，被称为性别辉煌刻板印象。这种有害的刻板印象很早就出现了，并立即形成了孩子们的兴趣。为了从发展根源上解决这种性别差异，本项目将解决三个相互关联的问题：(1)儿童如何内化性别辉煌刻板印象？(2)性别辉煌刻板印象如何影响儿童，特别是女孩的动机？(3)可以制定哪些策略来促进女孩参与STEM？这项研究的结果将改变对女孩造成的障碍的理解，并为制定干预措施让她们参与STEM奠定坚实的基础。该项目还将支持研究生和本科生进行STEM教育研究，并将开发一门与这项研究有关的课程，作为教育整合计划的一部分。归根结底，这项工作将有助于减少性别不平等。这项研究项目得到了EHR核心研究(ECR)计划的支持，该计划支持推进STEM学习和学习环境的基础研究，扩大对STEM的参与，以及STEM劳动力发展。该项目将结合实验和纵向方法，重点关注5至7岁的儿童，并提供对性别辉煌刻板印象的全面调查。具体地说，本研究将调查导致儿童认可刻板印象的语境因素，重点是父母的养育实践，并将探索刻板印象塑造女孩动机的三种心理机制。研究设计包括一系列实验，分析包括相关方法和确定环境来源与性别刻板印象之间的因果联系。年轻学生和他们的父母将参与简单的任务，并回答调查问卷，调查他们对STEM中性别角色的潜在假设。此外，研究人员将开发一种榜样干预措施，以减轻刻板印象的负面后果，即参与STEM活动的早期性别失衡。这个项目将促进对早期出现的心理过程的了解，这些过程是妇女在STEM和其他地方代表性不足的基础。它还将为家长、教师和博物馆教育工作者提供如何减少性别辉煌刻板印象及其负面影响的信息，从而架起研究和教育的桥梁。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)。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The increased demand for intellectual talent has highlighted the need for more female scientists, yet women are consistently underrepresented in the STEM domain. A pervading stereotype associating intellectual talent with men rather than women is a powerful cultural message that is in part responsible for this gender gap, termed the gender brilliance stereotype. This pernicious stereotype emerges early and immediately shapes children’s interests. To tackle this gender disparity from its developmental roots, this project will address three interrelated questions: (1) How do children internalize the gender brilliance stereotype? (2) How does the gender brilliance stereotype influence children’s, especially girls’, motivation? (3) What strategies can be developed to promote girls’ involvement in STEM? Findings from this research will transform understanding of the barriers posed on girls and lay a solid foundation for devising interventions to engage them in STEM. The project will also support graduate and undergraduate students in STEM education research and a course related to this research will be developed as part of the educational integration plan. Ultimately, this work will contribute to reducing gender inequalities. This research project is supported by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program, which supports work that advances fundamental research on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development.Integrating experimental and longitudinal approaches, the project will focus on 5- to 7-year-old children and provide a comprehensive investigation of the gender brilliance stereotype. Specifically, this research will investigate the contextual factors contributing to children’s endorsement of the stereotype, with a focus on parenting practices and will explore three psychological mechanisms through which the stereotype shapes girls’ motivation. The research design includes a series of experiments, and analyses include correlational approaches and identifying causal links between environmental sources and gender stereotypes. Young students and their parents will engage in brief tasks and respond to questionnaires that probe their underlying assumptions about the role of gender in STEM. In addition, the researcher will develop a role-model intervention to alleviate the negative consequences of the stereotype, namely, the early gender imbalance in participation in STEM activities. This project will advance the state of knowledge about the early-emerging psychological processes that underpin women’s underrepresentation in STEM and beyond. It will also bridge research and education by yielding information for parents, teachers, and museum educators on how to reduce the gender brilliance stereotype and its negative impacts.This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).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.