Exploring Future Thinking Under Academic Gender Stereotype Congruency: A Dual-Task Experiment in China

• In Event: A Future Advancing Gender Equity

Abstract

This study explores how academic gender stereotype congruency affects future thinking among Chinese high school students.Using a dual-task experimental paradigm combining the Sentence Completion for Events From the Future Test(SCEFT)and the Life Events Model(LEM),it investigates how self-efficacy and gender role identity influence this relationship. Four hypotheses are tested: stereotype-incongruent students generate less specific,less positive, and less agentic future narratives; self-efficacy mediates this effect;and gender role identity moderates both the direct and indirect pathways.By integrating developmental and sociocultural theories,this research highlights the psychological cost of internalized gendered academic norms.The findings aim to illuminate how educational systems shape students'imagined futures and offer insights for advancing gender equity in education,especially in high-stakes academic contexts.

Author

• 詹 景 欣, Beijing Normal University