Abstract
Interest in science and math plays an important role in encouraging STEM motivation and career aspirations. This interest decreases for girls between late childhood and adolescence. Relatedly, positive mentoring experiences with female teachers can protect girls against losing interest. The present study examines whether visitors to informal science learning sites (ISLS; science centers, zoos, and aquariums) differ in their expressed science and math interest, as well as their science and math stereotypes following an interaction with either a male or female educator. Participants (n = 364; early childhood, n = 151, Mage = 6.73; late childhood, n = 136, Mage = 10.01; adolescence, n = 59, Mage = 13.92) were visitors to one of four ISLS in the United States and United Kingdom. Following an interaction with a male or female educator, they reported their math and science interest and responded to math and science gender stereotype measures. Female participants reported greater interest in math following an interaction with a female educator, compared to when they interacted with a male educator. In turn, female participants who interacted with a female educator were less likely to report male-biased math gender stereotypes. Self-reported science interest did not differ as a function of educator gender. Together these findings suggest that, when aiming to encourage STEM interest and challenge gender stereotypes in informal settings, we must consider the importance of the gender of educators and learners.
Highlights
Girls and women often receive the message that the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are not “for them” (Furnham et al, 2002; Steele et al, 2002; Murphy et al, 2007)
Because our hypotheses focused on gender stereotypes and identity congruence, we examined whether participant age, gender and educator gender predict whether participants showed more or less male-biased stereotype responses
There was no main effect of educator gender on math interest (p = 0.30)
Summary
Girls and women often receive the message that the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are not “for them” (Furnham et al, 2002; Steele et al, 2002; Murphy et al, 2007). In the United Kingdom, while girls represent only 23% of students in advanced physics courses (WISE, 2019), there is little gender difference in chemistry and biology course participation (Cassidy et al, 2018) Given these different domain-specific trajectories, a focus on science and math interest offers insights into the differential effects of gender-matched mentors within ISLS. Given the importance of female role models for female students in formal education settings, we tested the hypothesis that math and science interest would differ based on the gender of the educator and the gender of the participant. We expected that girls would report higher math and science interest following an interaction with a female educator, compared to an interaction with a male educator (Hypothesis 1) This was expected due to the dynamic construction of identity as outlined in IBM theory.
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