2-131 - Intergroup Stereotypes about STEM and Intellectual Abilities: Interdisciplinary Evidence from Singapore, USA, and Chile

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Intergroup stereotypes about Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), as well as those about general intelligence may lead to group differences in participation and performance in STEM fields. This symposium recruits complementary, interdisciplinary methods from developmental science, cognitive science, social psychology, and education, to provide a range of new international research findings on gender and race stereotypes about STEM across diverse cultures. The symposium will integrate new advances in the study of intergroup stereotypes, as they operate at different levels of processing (implicit, awareness, endorsement), across contexts (family, school), disciplines (mathematics, computer science, general intelligence) and development (kindergarten, elementary school, middle childhood, early adolescence).

Paper 1 examines the acquisition and sources of implicit representations of race and intelligence (which is typically considered a prerequisite for STEM) in a sample of Singaporean elementary-school children and their parents. Paper 2 extends this work to U.S. elementary- and middle-school children by examining how awareness and personal endorsement of computer science stereotypes differentially shape children’s motivation in STEM. Paper 3 investigates the inter-generational transfer of math–gender stereotypes in Chilean kindergarteners by examining how mothers’ and fathers’ beliefs about math, as well as their involvement in math-related activities, contribute to children’s beliefs about “who does math” before they start formal schooling. Collectively, this work converges to document developmental changes in intergroup stereotypes within a context of group membership (gender, race) and their relation to children’s own sense of belonging, self-efficacy, and interest in STEM, as well as their parents’ beliefs and numeracy practices.

Sub Unit

• Education, Schooling

Chair

• Dario Cvencek, University of Washington

Discussant

• Lynn S Liben, Penn State

Individual Presentations

• Singaporean Children’s Implicit Ethnic Stereotypes about Intelligence - Presenting Author: Peipei Setoh, Nanyang Technological University; Non-Presenting Author: Siqi Zhao, Nanyang Technological University; Non-Presenting Author: Daniel Storage, University of Denver; Non-Presenting Author: Andrei Cimpian, New York University

• How Endorsement and Awareness of Gender Stereotypes Predict Girls’ Motivation in STEM - Presenting Author: Allison Master, University of Washington; Non-Presenting Author: Sapna Cheryan, University of Washington; Non-Presenting Author: Andrew Meltzoff, University of Washington

• Inter-generational Transfer of Stereotypes about Math: Multimethod Investigation of Chilean Families - Presenting Author: Dario Cvencek, University of Washington; Non-Presenting Author: Francisca del Río, Universidad Diego Portales de Chile; Non-Presenting Author: Katherine Strasser, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Non-Presenting Author: María Inés Susperreguy, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Non-Presenting Author: Andrew Meltzoff, University of Washington