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Ambient Belonging: How Stereotypical Cues Impact Gender Participation in Computer Science
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People can make decisions to join a group based solely on exposure to that group's physical environment. Four studies demonstrate that the gender difference in interest in computer science is influenced by exposure to environments associated with computer scientists. In Study 1, simply changing the objects in a computer science classroom from those considered stereotypical of computer science (e.g., Star Trek poster, video games) to objects not considered stereotypical of computer science (e.g., nature poster, phone books) was sufficient to boost female undergraduates' interest in computer science to the level of their male peers. Further investigation revealed that the stereotypical broadcast a masculine stereotype that discouraged women's sense of ambient belonging and subsequent interest in the environment (Studies 2, 3, and 4) but had no similar effect on men (Studies 3, 4). This masculine stereotype prevented women's interest from developing even in environments entirely populated by other women (Study 2). Objects can thus come to broadcast stereotypes of a group, which in turn can deter people who do not identify with these stereotypes from joining that group.
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... As one of the most widely studied topics in social psychology [146], stereotype threat has been shown to hinder performance in a wide variety of domains, including mathematics, computer science, athletics [16,50,61,122,131,143,163,167,174,186], intelligence tests [40], engineering [14,99], mathematical reasoning [76,106,142,158], political knowledge [107], memory [72,97], English [16]. But in addition to directly harming performance [152], stereotype threat affects a variety of other factors, such as sense of belonging [33,115,155,174,185], motivation [32,115,165], interest [156], and career intentions [31,42,65]. And although many stereotype threat studies have focused on racial and gender stereotypes, the effect has been found for numerous stigmatized groups, such as Latinos [62], Native Americans [122], older adults [72,97], and people with low socioeconomic status [40]. ...
... Similarly, job descriptions utilizing more masculine-themed words compared to feminine or neutral words predicted lower belonging for potential female candidates [169] and caused women to report lower scores of expected belongingness and job appeal [57]. And perhaps even more implicitly, being asked to indicate gender, race/ethnicity, or age in questionnaires [41,106,145,153,163], being in physical [32] or virtual [31] environments decorated with stereotypically masculine objects, or simply being numerically 4 Dominic Kao et al. ...
... Within the specific context of computing, the underrepresentation of women may be influenced by a perceived lack of similarity with those in the field [33]. Even subtle gender cues, such as objects in a classroom, can affect female participation [32]. Given that voice carries rich identity cues, identity-masked voice avatars present a promising avenue for exploration in addressing gender inequities in computing. ...
We investigate how gender-anonymous voice avatars influence women’s performance in online computing group work. Female participants worked with two male confederates. Voices were filtered according to four voice gender anonymity conditions: (1) All unmasked, (2) Male confederates masked, (3) Female participant masked, and (4) All masked. When only male confederates used masked voices (compared to all unmasked), female participants spoke for a longer period of time and scored higher on computing problems. When everyone used masked voices (compared to all unmasked), female participants spoke for a longer period of time, spoke more words, and scored higher on computing problems. Effects were not significant on subjective measures and one behavioral measure. We discuss the implications for virtual interactions between people.
... Work on social identity threat confirms such speculations. For instance, exposure to objects seen as highly stereotypic of computer science, which themselves seem male-stereotypic, reduce women's interest in computer science and sense of belonging in associated computer science environments [17]. In this case, nothing was excluding an individual woman from the field. ...
... Moreover, these results support past research that people are attuned to subtle indications of belonging-threat (e.g., [13]), including group-level threats that target one's social identity, which complements the social identity threat literature. Just as people notice visual cues (e.g., Star Trek posters; [17]), people notice linguistic cues that they interpret as exclusionary, and various negative consequences follow. ...
In a 2011 study, Stout and Dasgupta exposed men and women to what they termed gender-inclusive language, which used both male and female referents, or to what they termed gender-exclusive language, which used male referents only. They found that, in comparison to gender-inclusive language, a job description that used gender-exclusive language negatively impacted women; they reported higher anticipated job-based ostracism and perceived sexism and lower job-based motivation and identification. This work reports a high-powered, preregistered study with women that fully replicated Stout and Dasgupta’s findings. Moreover, in an exploratory analysis, we found that, for women, gender-exclusive language is perceived as sexist, which in turn predicted feelings of greater anticipated ostracism, which in turn predicted lower job-based motivation and identification. Therefore, our findings support past research that subtle linguistic cues can be interpreted as exclusionary, that this interpretation can trigger negative outcomes, and that people can experience group-level ostracism based on their social identity.
... In light of this, the hope of Gladstone and Cimpian (2021) and many other researchers seems plausible: "the use of role models is often billed as the one-stop solution for increasing diversity in STEM" (p. 1). Indeed, the importance of role models in STEM has been widely demonstrated (Cheryan et al., 2009;van der Vleuten et al., 2018van der Vleuten et al., , 2020. Successful interventions have been developed that expose women to nonstereotypical, successful female role models in STEM (Cheryan et al., 2013;Rosenthal et al., 2013). ...
... To improve the situation of women in STEM, many scholars have suggested an extension that includes the arts: STEAM (Colucci-Gray, 2019;de Vries, 2021;Marín-Marín et al., 2021;Ng & Fergusson, 2020;Oliveros-Ruiz, 2019;Tan et al., 2020). As the importance of role models in STEM has been widely demonstrated (Cheryan et al., 2009;van der Vleuten et al., 2018van der Vleuten et al., , 2020, exposing women to non-stereotypical, successful female role models seems to be a promising intervention strategy (Cheryan et al., 2013;Rosenthal et al., 2013). However, as role models do not yet exist in sufficient numbers in STEM, an interesting possibility might be to piggyback on arts role models in an integrated STEAM education. ...
Purpose In many STEM fields, the intersectionality of gender and excellence is a frequently noted phenomenon, i.e., women are underrepresented in STEM in general and specifically, at the top. Role models presumably play a key part in closing this equity gap. However, these are not available in sufficient numbers. Many researchers have suggested better outreach to female talents by integrating the arts into STEAM. One possibility might be that such an integration would make more female role models available to STEAM talent pools. (82) Design/methodology/approach We explored the availability of potential role models for female talents by analysing the ten most prestigious awards in STEM and the arts over the past 42-plus years using a 2 X 2 X 2 X 10 hierarchical log-linear analysis. Variables were gender (female vs.
... In a compelling demonstration of the importance of physical belongingness cues, female undergraduates reported significantly lower interest in enrolling and a lower sense of belonging in computer science when in a classroom with objects that conveyed stereotypes of computer science majors (Star Wars/Star Trek items, video games, science fiction books, and tech magazines) than when in a classroom with no such objects. Classroom environment did not significantly affect male students' interest in computer science (Cheryan et al., 2009). Several studies using photographs or written descriptions of the classrooms replicated this initial finding, even among high school students (Cheryan et al., 2009;Master et al., 2016). ...
... Classroom environment did not significantly affect male students' interest in computer science (Cheryan et al., 2009). Several studies using photographs or written descriptions of the classrooms replicated this initial finding, even among high school students (Cheryan et al., 2009;Master et al., 2016). ...
Why do women remain underrepresented in some science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields? Research has uncovered various situational factors such as belongingness cues, but one understudied (and related) factor may be outperformance-related discomfort. Specifically, when people outperform others who are upset about being outperformed, they may experience sensitivity about being the target of a threatening upward comparison (STTUC; Exline and Lobel, in Psychological Bulletin 125:307–337, 1999). Three studies examined the potential role of STTUC among women in STEM and how STTUC relates to feelings of belongingness. Study 1 recruited a large internet sample of undergraduate women and found that the tendency to experience STTUC corresponded with relatively low levels of belongingness in both STEM and arts/humanities courses. Replicating prior research, results also showed significantly lower levels of belongingness in STEM vs. arts/humanities courses. Study 2 found higher anticipated levels of perceiving the outperformed person as upset and experiencing STTUC-related concerns among undergraduate women (vs. men) who imagined academically outperforming others. Study 3 examined women and non-binary first-year undergraduates in STEM and found that the tendency to experience STTUC corresponded to relatively low levels of belongingness in STEM at two time points. Taken together, results suggest that experiencing outperformance-related discomfort in STEM may predict relatively low levels of belongingness, which, over time, may contribute to weakening women’s interest in pursuing STEM. The present research may be of particular interest to educators, administrators, and policy makers interested in improving women’s representation in STEM.
... We additionally examine whether implicit attitudes are related to sense of belonging to the respective community. Recent research suggests that gender stereotypes lead to a lower sense of belonging to the STEM community among females, which contributes to lower participation rates in females [6,[60][61][62][63][64][65]. To our knowledge, the relation between sense of belonging and implicit attitudes has not yet been studied. ...
... Whereas physics and computer science still have a low proportion of women, biology and chemistry have achieved almost equal representation of genders, at least among university students [2]. Research has discussed several factors contributing to the different gender distributions in the various STEM subjects, including stereotypes about the particular subjects [47,61,64,79,80]. Thus, future research may disentangle implicit attitudes about the STEM subfields that are more or less gender-balanced [81]. ...
Despite societal efforts toward enhancing gender equality, females are still underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics). Prominent explanations draw on gender differences in attitudes about STEM (with females holding more negative attitudes than males), which result from the gender stereotype that STEM is a male domain. While a lot of research has focused on explicit attitudes, little is known about implicit attitudes toward STEM. The present research sought to examine implicit attitudes among adolescents, and how they relate to other STEM cognitions. We measured implicit attitudes about the STEM concept as a whole, and about math in particular. For this purpose, we developed two Brief Implicit Associations Tests (BIATs) and administered them online in a sample of adolescents (N = 517). We additionally measured a variety of self-reported motivational and social-psychological variables (interest, aspiration, self-concept of ability, and sense of belonging to the math and STEM community, respectively), which previous research has identified as factors contributing to the gender gap in STEM participation. Our findings confirm the reliability and validity of both the STEM BIAT and the Math BIAT. Moreover, implicit STEM attitudes predicted interest in and aspiration for STEM, self-concept of STEM ability, and sense of belonging to the STEM community. Similarly, implicit math attitudes predicted interest in and aspiration for math, and sense of belonging to the math community (but not self-concept of math ability). Our findings confirm that our novel online BIATs are efficient measurement tools of implicit attitudes in adolescents. Moreover, our findings underscore the significance of implicit attitudes in the STEM domain.
... In addition, most STEM gender gap interventions focus on higher education (Cheryan et al., 2009;Dennehy & Dasgupta, 2017;Ramsey et al., 2013) or workplaces (Chang et al., 2019;Devine et al., 2017;LaCosse et al., 2020). Although interventions at later career stages are needed, they come after many girls and young women have made educational decisions that might foreclose careers in STEM (National Center for Education Statistics, 2017;National Science Foundation, 2016Zheng & Weeden, 2023). ...
Girls and women face persistent negative stereotyping within STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics). This field intervention was designed to improve boys' perceptions of girls' STEM ability. Boys ( N = 667; mostly White and East Asian) aged 9–15 years in Canadian STEM summer camps (2017–2019) had an intervention or control conversation with trained camp staff. The intervention was a multi‐stage persuasive appeal: a values affirmation, an illustration of girls' ability in STEM, a personalized anecdote, and reflection. Control participants discussed general camp experiences. Boys who received the intervention (vs. control) had more positive perceptions of girls' STEM ability, d = 0.23, an effect stronger among younger boys. These findings highlight the importance of engaging elementary‐school‐aged boys to make STEM climates more inclusive.
... In the absence of significant multigroup differences, we chose to rely on the result of the overall sample and, therefore, conservatively concluded that belonging uncertainty did not significantly predict values for either student groups. This null finding was surprising given the past literature suggesting that individuals tend to develop interest in domains they perceive to be accepted and respected by others and environments in which they feel like they fit in (e.g., Cheryan et al., 2009;Xu & Lastrapes, 2022). It is possible that compared to expectancies and costs, values were less malleable to change as a function of contextual factors, which could explain their lack of association with belonging uncertainty. ...
Compared to continuing-generation students, first-generation college students face additional barriers to their sense of belonging in STEM disciplines and at selective institutions. We examined first-generation (N = 1293) and continuing-generation (N = 2150) students' perceptions of belonging uncertainty, math motivation, and math achievement at eight research and comprehensive universities. Results of the multigroup structural equation analyses suggested that first-generation students who had higher belonging uncertainty reported lower success expectancies and higher perceived costs for math. Less adaptive math motivational beliefs, in turn, predicted lower math achievement for first-generation students. For continuing-generation students, belonging uncertainty was unrelated to math expectancies, value, costs, and achievement. The multigroup analyses revealed significant differences in how expectancies and costs mediated the relationship between belonging uncertainty and math achievement for first-generation versus continuing-generation students. Results have implications for narrowing social class equity gaps in selective institutions and diversifying STEM.
Three studies introduce a novel individual-difference construct to explain majority group members’ responses to organizational diversity efforts: lay theories of diversity initiatives. Zero-sum beliefs (ZSBs) presume that efforts to advance diversity come at the expense of majority group members. Win-win beliefs (WWBs) posit that diversity initiatives can benefit all racial groups. Study 1 created and validated measures of ZSBs and WWBs. Study 2 showed that ZSBs and WWBs are distinct from 10 intergroup measures (e.g., social dominance orientation, modern racism) and that each lay theory accounts for unique variance in explaining Whites’ reactions to diversity initiatives. Study 3 demonstrated that ZSBs and WWBs predict Whites’ reactions to diversity policies of a hypothetical company. These findings suggest that ZSBs and WWBs both help explain majority group members’ backlash against and support for organizational diversity initiatives.
In this article, we attempt to distinguish between the properties of moderator and mediator variables at a number of levels. First, we seek to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating, both conceptually and strategically, the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ. We then go beyond this largely pedagogical function and delineate the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena, including control and stress, attitudes, and personality traits. We also provide a specific compendium of analytic procedures appropriate for making the most effective use of the moderator and mediator distinction, both separately and in terms of a broader causal system that includes both moderators and mediators. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Recent theory and research suggest that certain situational factors can harm women’s math test performance. The three studies presented here indicate that female role models can buffer women’s math test performance from the debilitating effects of these situational factors. In Study 1, women’s math test performance was protected when a competent female experimenter (i.e., a female role model) administered the test. Study 2 showed that it was the perception of the female experimenter’s math competence, not her physical presence, that safeguarded the math test performance of women. Study 3 revealed that learning about a competent female experimenter buffered women’s self-appraised math ability, which in turn led to successful performance on a challenging math test.
We explore the impact of student gender, teacher gender, and their interaction on academic motivation and engagement for 964 junior and middle high school students. According to the gender-stereotypic model, boys fare better academically in classes taught by males and girls fare better in classes taught by females. The gender-invariant model suggests that the academic motivation and engagement of boys and girls is the same for men and women teachers. We also examine the relative contribution of student-, class-, and school-level factors, finding that most variation was at the individual student level. Of the statistically significant main effects for gender, most favoured girls. In support of the gender-invariant model, academic motivation and engagement does not significantly vary as a function of their teacher's gender, and in terms of academic motivation and engagement, boys do not fare any better with male teachers than female teachers.
Women in quantitative fields risk being personally reduced to negative stereotypes that allege a sex-based math inability. This situational predicament, termed stereotype threat, can undermine women’s performance and aspirations in all quantitative domains. Gender-stereotypic television commercials were employed in three studies to elicit the female stereotype among both men and women. Study 1 revealed that only women for whom the activated stereotype was self-relevant underperformed on a subsequent math test. Exposure to the stereotypic commercials led women taking an aptitude test in Study 2 to avoid math items in favor of verbal items. In Study 3, women who viewed the stereotypic commercials indicated less interest in educational/vocational options in which they were susceptible to stereotype threat (i.e., quantitative domains) and more interest in fields in which they were immune to stereotype threat (i.e., verbal domains).
The results show that female subjects who anticipated being tokens-the only woman in the group were more likely than nontoken women to prefer a different group, to desire a change in the gender composition of the group, and to expect to stereotype others. These effects were stronger for token women with less confidence about an upcoming task. In contrast, token and nontoken male subjects did not differ in their responses to these measures. Yet potential female and male tokens, regardless of confidence, were both more likely to anticipate stereotypic evaluations from their group members. The authors discuss the relevance of these results to career choices by women in nontraditional careers.
This chapter reviews the literature on women in postsecondary computing education. It highlights two conditions that contribute to the persistence of women's underrepresentation. The first condition is an inadequate understanding of the underlying and immediate causes. The second condition is inadequate intervention efforts. The chapter focuses on evidence-based social science research into the factors leading to women's underrepresentation.
The popular stereotype of the frequent computer user persists to be one of a male, socially inadequate and isolated individual - a perception which has been found to cause many students to avoid coming into contact with information and communications technology (ICT), both inside and outside of school. This article reports on a study examining the gender and social competency of both frequent and infrequent computer-using students in Year 12 (n = 117). The results suggest that students who are highly oriented toward ICT are just as likely to be female as they are male and are no less sociable, popular, or self-assured than their non-ICT using peers. These data are then contrasted with interview data from the "high" and "low" using students which suggest that negative stereotyping of the computer-using student persists - although primarily among students not engaging with ICT in school. The article postulates that the vast increases in ICT use in schools over the last ten years has created a more accessible "computer culture" to which increasing numbers of students are now subscribing; although teachers need to be aware of the persistence of the male, anti-social stereotype within elements of the student body.
The math/science pipeline in public schooling is best described as a phenomenon in which, beginning in late middle/junior high school, the number of female students, students with lower socioeconomic status, and students of color in proportion to White male students in advanced math and science progressively shrinks during high school. This article shares the findings from a survey of high school students undertaken to determine the degree to which the nationally recognized pipeline phenomenon exists in five southwestern high schools. Through this study, the authors document a local instance of a national phenomenon. This is especially important in order to address some public school educators' perceptions that the national pipeline phenomenon somehow does not apply to their own schools. Thus, in this article, the authors aim to identify patterns of inequality that might exist in order to create a foundation from which to explore educational inequality more deeply.