Poster #234 - Effect of Exposure to a Counter-Stereotypical STEM Show on Children’s Occupational Schema and Attitudes Towards STEM

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - Technology, Media & Child Development

Integrative Statement

Despite recent widespread policy pushes for increased training in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), children in the United States, as well as in many other similarly industrialized nations, show low levels of interest in and engagement with STEM (Stoet & Geary, 2018). This is especially true for girls and children of color, who tend not to pursue STEM careers, even when they consider themselves competent at science and math. While there are many societal influences on children’s occupational schema and desire to pursue various careers, one important environmental factor is the media (Jordan, 2004; Ward & Aubrey, 2017). Research suggests that young children are likely to develop occupational schema that reflect the images they see on television, which are overwhelmingly male and white (Signorielli, 2009; Signorielli & Lears, 1992), and that gender- and race-based occupational schema are in place by age six (Bigler, Averhart, & Liben, 2003; Liben, Bigler, & Krogh, 2001). Existing literature suggests that the influence of television is often in a negative, stereotypical direction. However, television can contribute to both stereotypical and non-stereotypical attitude formation depending on the behaviors modeled by on-screen characters (Aubrey & Harrison, 2004). To investigate the effect of exposure to a counter-stereotypical STEM show, we conducted a pre/post, between-subjects experimental study. For eight weeks, participants in the treatment group (n=25) regularly viewed episodes of Cyberchase, a PBS show designed to teach early math and science skills that was rated by coders to be high in both gender and race diversity. Participants in the control group (n=23) went about business as usual. All participants (N=48, 62.5% female, aged 5.5 to 7.53 years) completed assessments before and after the eight-week exposure period to measure their attitudes towards STEM, self-identification with STEM, parasocial relationships, program and genre familiarity, and perceptions of learning STEM. Analyses of variance revealed no significant differences between treatment and control groups in change in attitudes towards STEM from pretest to posttest. However, within the treatment group, several individual differences emerged as important predictors of positive STEM attitude change. Regression analyses revealed that, controlling for pretest scores, children who reported stronger parasocial relationships with their favorite Cyberchase character, children who perceived that Cyberchase was designed to teach science and/or math, and children who felt they had learned something from watching Cyberchase had higher attitudes towards STEM, on average, at posttest than their peers who had lower scores on those three measures (p’s < .05). Conversely, children who had high familiarity with STEM shows at pretest showed a decrease in positive attitudes towards STEM from pre- to posttest. Together these findings suggest that, in contrast to the Drench hypothesis (Greenberg, 1988), a single counter-stereotypical example, even with repeated exposure, may not be strong enough to override the stereotypical occupational schema that are already in place by kindergarten. In order for educational media to encourage STEM pursuit through counter-stereotypical STEM portrayals, we need to move towards a point where diverse, counter-stereotypical STEM portrayals begin to saturate the children’s media environment.

Authors

• Fashina Alade, Michigan State University
  Presenting Author

• Alexis Lauricella, Erikson Institute
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ellen Wartella, Northwestern University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Yannik Kumar, Northwestern University
  Non-Presenting Author