Developmental Emergence of math-Gender Stereotypes and Math Self-Concepts

妇女在STEM学科中任职人数不足是一个具有经济影响的社会问题。尽管在过去20年里，男生和女生在数学成绩上的差距有所缩小，但性别差异仍然影响着学生进入数学相关职业的决定。青年学生的数学自我概念被发现可以预测未来在数学相关领域的选择。早在小学时期--在数学成绩没有性别差异的情况下--女孩的数学自我概念比男孩低。研究女性在STEM中代表性不足的因素的发展科学家区分了两个相互关联的结构。第一种是孩子对数学和性别之间联系的信念(即对一个社会群体和谁做数学的信念)，这可以称为数学-性别刻板印象。第二个问题是儿童与数学的联系有多强(即儿童是否认同数学)，这可以被称为数学自我概念。这项提议由EHR核心研究计划资助，该计划支持STEM学习和学习环境中的基础研究，扩大对STEM的参与，以及STEM劳动力发展。本项目将考察数学性别刻板印象的发展(实验1)、数学自我概念的发展(实验2)及其对数学动机和职业兴趣的影响(实验3)。在实验1中，研究人员将采用横断面方法，研究美国人在小学普遍存在的数学是“为男性服务”的刻板印象的发展情况。在实验2中，重点将集中在男孩和女孩与数学(数学自我概念)的联系程度以及这一发展途径中可能存在的性别差异上。在实验3中，项目团队将使用细粒度的纵向方法验证发展顺序，并追踪对小学男孩和女孩的数学动机和他们未来对STEM的职业兴趣的影响。综上所述，实验1至实验3将加深对幼儿何时以及如何出现数学刻板印象和自我概念的理解，并对旨在减少数学刻板印象和加强数学自我概念的新型干预措施的设计产生直接影响。

The underrepresentation of women in STEM disciplines is a societal problem with economic implications. Despite the narrowing of the gap in math performance between boys and girls in the past two decades, gender disparities still influence students' decisions to enter math-related careers. Young students' math self-concepts have been found to predict future choices in math-related domains. As early as elementary school--and in the absence of gender differences in math achievement--girls have lower math self-concepts than boys. Developmental scientists examining the factors implicated in women's underrepresentation in STEM distinguish two interrelated constructs. The first is the child's belief about the link between math and gender (i.e., a belief about a social group and "who does math"), which can be called a math-gender stereotype. The second is how strongly children link themselves to math (i.e., whether a child "identifies with math"), which can be called a math self-concept. This proposal is funded by the EHR Core Research program, which supports fundamental research in STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. This project will examine the development of math-gender stereotypes (Experiment 1), math self-concepts (Experiment 2), and their consequences for math motivation and career interest (Experiment 3). In experiment 1, using a cross-sectional approach, the researchers will examine the developmental emergence of the pervasive U.S. stereotype that math is "for males" in elementary school. In Experiment 2, focus will be on the emergence of how strongly boys and girls associate themselves with math (math self-concept) and possible gender differences in this developmental pathway. In Experiment 3, the project team will verify the developmental order using a fine-grained longitudinal approach, and trace the consequences for elementary school boys' and girls' motivation for math and their future career interest in STEM. Taken together, Experiments 1 through 3 will deepen understanding about when and how math stereotypes and self-concepts emerge in young children, with direct implications for the design of novel interventions aimed at reducing math stereotyping and strengthening math self-concepts.