What Does a Scientist Look Like? Children's Gender and Ethnic Representation of Scientists

• In Event: Understanding the Antecedents of Gender and Ethnic Underrepresentation in STEM: Stereotypes, Motivation, and Belonging

Abstract

Objectives. Children typically draw male characters when asked to draw a scientist, suggesting that children have stereotypical representations of who can be scientists (Chambers, 1983; Miller et al., 2018).The current study examined children’s drawings to assess (N = 69, 66.7% female, Mage = 7.60, SD = 2.13, 69.6% White/European American, 7.2% Asian/Asian American, 4.3% Hispanic/Latinx, 4.3% Black/ African American, 11.5% bi-racial or other, and 2.9% did not report their ethnicity) implicit gender and racial stereotypes about scientists, and their stereotypes about scientific work. We examined the association between implicit stereotypes (in children’s drawings) and both explicit stereotypes about science and implicit theories of intelligence (Dweck & Leggett, 1988). Finally, we explored differences by age and gender.

Theoretical Framework. According to social identity theory, individuals view members of their ingroup more favorably than people from outgroups and see ingroup members as more similar to themselves than outgroup members (Martin & Ruble, 2004; Tajfel & Turner, 1976). By grouping people based on gendered and racialized differences, children view outgroups more negatively, potentially leading to outgroup prejudice and endorsement of negative stereotypes (Bussey & Bandura, 1999; Hilton & von Hippel, 1996). Children’s awareness of gender and racial stereotypes influence their thinking about who can pursue STEM careers (Mulvey & Irvin, 2018). However, as children enter adolescence they have shown stereotype resistance, meaning they do not endorse traditional stereotypes (Mulvey & Killen, 2015; Rogers & Way, 2015) and children with growth mindsets show reduced stereotypes (Law et al., 2021). Therefore, if children show resistance to science stereotypes, they may see scientists as from diverse gender and racial/ethnic groups.

Methods. Using logistic regression, we examined what factors (age, gender, majority racial group membership, science stereotype resistance, and growth mindset) were related to drawing a female as compared to a male scientist. and to drawing a scientist with a darker compared to a scientist with a lighter skin tone. Hierarchical regression was used to assess the factors associated with drawing stereotypical features of a scientist.

Results (see Tables 1-6). Boys were less likely to draw a female scientist than were girls. With age, children were less likely to draw a female scientist, or a darker skin toned scientist as compared to a male or lighter skin toned scientist and were more likely to draw a scientist with stereotypical features. Lastly, the higher children’s growth mindset, the more likely they were to draw a female scientist.

Significance. This study documents continued growth in children’s representation of female scientists and expands our knowledge of children’s implicit stereotypes of scientists by examining the skin tones of the scientist drawings - finding that older children drew darker skin toned scientists less than did younger children. We also document that children with higher growth mindset are more likely to draw female scientists. Therefore, our findings suggest the importance of encouraging children to see that anyone could become a scientist, for instance by promoting growth mindset in children to teach them that science skills are not innate but developed over time.

Authors

• Channing Mathews

• Angelina Joy, North Carolina State University

• Adam Hartstone-Rose

• Kelly Lynn Lynn Mulvey, North Carolina State University