Abstract
A wide-spread stereotype that influences women’s paths into STEM (or non-STEM) fields is the implicit association of science and mathematics with “male” and with requiring high levels of male-associated “brilliance.” Recent research on such “field-specific ability beliefs” has shown that a high emphasis on brilliance in a specific field goes along with a low share of female students among its graduates. A possible mediating mechanisms between cultural expectations and stereotypes on the one hand, and women’s underrepresentation in math-intensive STEM fields on the other hand, is that women may be more likely than men to feel that they do not belong in these fields. In the present study, we investigated field-specific ability beliefs as well as belonging uncertainty in a sample of n = 1294 male and female university students from five STEM fields (Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering) at a prestigious technical university in Switzerland. Field-specific ability beliefs of both men and women emphasized brilliance more in more math-intensive fields (Mathematics, Physics) than in less math-intensive fields (Engineering). Women showed higher beliefs in brilliance than men did, and also reported higher levels of belonging uncertainty. For both genders, there was a small, positive correlation (r = 0.19) of belief in brilliance and belonging uncertainty. A relatively small, but significant portion of the effect of gender on belonging uncertainty was mediated by women’s higher belief in brilliance.
Highlights
The gender-gap in achievement in STEM fields has narrowed down in recent years, women remain underrepresented in many math-intensive fields (Ceci et al, 2014; Wang and Degol, 2017)
We argue that the perception that a specific STEM field requires male-associated “brilliance” may contribute to women’s belonging uncertainty with regard to the respective field
We discuss the correlation between field-specific ability beliefs emphasizing brilliance and belonging uncertainty that we found in our sample
Summary
The gender-gap in achievement in STEM fields has narrowed down in recent years, women remain underrepresented in many math-intensive fields (Ceci et al, 2014; Wang and Degol, 2017). The dimension of this gender gap and possible explanations for its sustained existence have been analyzed from many perspectives, and based on large data sets, in recent years (for overviews, see for example: Ceci et al, 2014; Miller et al, 2015; Cheryan et al, 2017; Wang and Degol, 2017; Stoet and Geary, 2018). Even though such choices seem to be free at the first glance, they are constrained by cultural expectations and stereotypes that associate science and mathematics with stereotypically male, rather than stereotypically female traits (e.g., Thébaud and Charles, 2018)
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