Do Gender Salience and Traditional Gender Roles Predict Ability Perceptions of Male-Dominated STEM Fields?

• In Event: Learning at the Margins: Intersectional Explorations of Educational Experiences

Abstract

The present study examined if gender salience and the perceived desirability of masculine and feminine traits in women predict ratings of the raw intellectual ability required for success in male-dominated STEM fields. Male and female undergraduate students (n = 779) rated the amount of innate intellectual ability required for success in physics, mathematics, and engineering. They also rated the salience of gender in their lives and the desirability of women possessing traditional masculine traits and traditional feminine traits. Results indicated that men were much more likely to view physics, mathematics, and engineering as more requiring of innate intellectual ability when they were less accepting of women possessing traditional masculine traits. These findings have implications for gendered stereotypes in STEM.

Author

• Jessica L. Degol, Pennsylvania State University - Altoona
  Presenting Author