3-219 - Gender Stereotypes about Intellectual Abilities: Developmental Trajectory, Mechanisms of Influence, and Effective Interventions

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Our culture is rife with stereotypes that associate skill in various intellectual domains -- as well as the overall amount of intellectual ability -- with a particular gender. Rather than being inert, these stereotypes actively shape young people’s educational and career trajectories. This symposium brings together cutting-edge research on three topics that are crucial to understanding the effects of gender stereotypes about intellectual abilities: (1) their developmental trajectory, (2) the mechanisms by which they influence children’s aspirations, and (3) effective means of combatting their influence. The first two talks illuminate the development of these stereotypes. The first talk suggests that, although 4-year-olds have acquired some gender stereotypes (e.g., about toy preferences), stereotypes about intellectual domains (in particular, mathematics and reading) emerge only at 5. The second talk suggests that children aged 5 to 7 have also acquired the broader stereotype that males are more likely than females to be “really, really smart” (i.e., brilliant). As a result, children discriminate against girls in contexts that emphasize intellectual ability. With respect to mechanisms, the third talk suggests that children’s gender stereotypes about mathematics shape their expectations for success and the value they place on this domain, both of which are important to students’ motivation and involvement. Finally, the fourth talk describes an intervention that successfully reduced the extent to which children’s self-concepts about mathematics were tied to gender stereotypes. Together, these talks advance our understanding of when and how gender stereotypes about intellectual abilities “get under the skin” and shape children’s aspirations.

Sub Unit

• Sex, Gender

Chair

• Lin Bian, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Individual Presentations

• Young children’s academic gender stereotypes - Presenting Author: Kristin Shutts, University of Wisconsin

• Women and young girls are the targets of bias in contexts that emphasize intellectual ability - Presenting Author: Lin Bian, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Andrei Cimpian, New York University; Sarah-Jane Leslie, Princeton University

• Stereotyping, self-objectification, perceived support in relation to girls' and boys' math motivation - Presenting Author: Christy Starr, University of California at Santa Cruz; Campbell Leaper, University of California, Santa Cruz

• Experimental interventions to enhance children’s explicit and implicit math self-concepts - Presenting Author: Dario Cvencek, University of Washington; Jesús Paz-Albo Prieto, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos; Cristina V. Herranz Llacer, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos; Arancha Hervás Escobar, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos; Andrew N. Meltzoff, University of Washington