Paradox Of Gender Equality Research Articles

Gender-essentialist beliefs and the gender gap in STEM: Evidence on the gender-essentialism theory

Abstract Horizontal gender segregation persists and is higher in more developed countries (gender-equality paradox). According to the theory of gender essentialism, more developed countries are characterized by more individualism, which in turn pushes individuals to rely more on personal characteristics when deciding about their future careers. The presence of both essentialist beliefs on gender and the endorsement of the stereotypical beliefs that math and science are “for boys” could explain the so-called paradox. By exploiting the large dataset collected by Project Implicit, the study tested the different associations of gender essentialism and implicit and explicit gender stereotypes with attitudes toward science of young women aged 15–19 in 51 countries. The results confirmed that both essentialist and stereotypical beliefs are negatively associated with attitudes toward science, still with differences in the strength of the association. Furthermore, the association between gender essentialism and attitudes toward science is stronger in more developed countries.

Unpacking the gender equality paradox: narratives about mathematics and gender among teachers

ABSTRACT In school mathematics in Israel, there are contrasting trends in Hebrew-language and Arabic-language schools. In Arabic-language schools, girls consistently outperform boys in mathematics and are more represented in advanced coursework. This study explores the possibility that dominant narratives associating mathematics with boys and men might be less prevalent in Palestinian/Arab Israeli (P/AI) society. We surveyed 809 elementary, middle, and secondary teachers, including 457 teachers from Arabic-language schools and 352 from Hebrew-language schools, to assess their agreement with the Innate Ability in Mathematics myth (IAM) and the Boys’ Superiority Myth (BSM). On average, teachers from Arabic-language schools indicated moderate disagreement with BSM, but their responses to IAM items were symmetric, with an overall slight leaning towards agreement. Responses to IAM and BSM were positively correlated. Teachers from Hebrew-language schools disagreed more strongly with both narratives. These findings suggest that gender-related trends in school mathematics among P/AIs are shaped by factors other than societal rejection of or alternatives to narratives that associate mathematics with boys and men. The circulation of the IAM and BSM narratives likely influence trends for P/AI women in higher education and professional settings.

Gender Stereotypes About Career and Family Are Stronger in More Economically Developed Countries and Can Explain the Gender Equality Paradox.

Using data from Project Implicit collected between 2005 and 2020, comprising 1,489,721 observations in 111 countries, we find that implicit and explicit gender stereotypes about career and family are more pronounced in more economically developed countries. Besides, these gender stereotypes are strongly correlated at the country level with gender differences in values (such as family values), self-reported personality traits (such as agreeableness or dependence), and occupational preferences (such as health-related occupations), and may account for the fact that these gender imbalances are "paradoxically" stronger in more economically developed countries (the so-called "gender equality paradox").In line with social role theory, our findings suggest that there are in developed countries strong gender stereotypes about career and family, which may at least partly explain the persistence or even the "paradoxical worsening" of a number of gender differences in these countries, despite generally high levels of gender equality in other areas.

Gender Differences in Vocational Interests Across 57 Countries: A Test of the Interest–Gender-Equality Paradox

Postmaterialist theory suggests that gender differences in vocational interests should be larger in more egalitarian countries, reflecting a counter-intuitive pattern called the “Gender-Equality Paradox.” By contrast, social role theory implies that gender differences in vocational interests should be smaller in more egalitarian countries as gender roles converge. Using multilevel analyses on data from 57 countries (N = 109,460), we investigate the relationship of country-level gender equality (measured by the Global Gender Gap Index) to gender differences in RIASEC (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional) vocational interests. Results reveal patterns that differ by interest dimensions. In more egalitarian countries, gender differences in Realistic, Investigative, and Social interests are larger, revealing an “Interest–Gender-Equality Paradox.” Conversely, gender differences in Artistic, Enterprising, and Conventional interests are smaller in these countries. These relationships remain largely robust after controlling for country-level economic development (Gross Domestic Product). We discuss possible explanations and implications of our findings.

National gender equality and sex differences in Machiavellianism across countries

Machiavellianism is characterized by a focus on self-interest and a desire to achieve personal goals at any cost. Research consistently found that, on average, men score higher on Machiavellianism than women. However, the factors contributing to this sex difference remain unclear. The present research examined whether sex differences in Machiavellianism vary across countries and whether national levels of gender inequality are related to these differences. We analyzed Machiavellianism scores of 56,936 adults across 48 countries. We operationalized gender inequality at national level using two indices (the Gender Inequality Index and the Global Gender Gap Index) and assessed Machiavellianism at the individual level using the MACH-IV scale. Multilevel modeling indicated that men scored higher in Machiavellianism than women, with a larger sex difference in countries with higher levels of gender equality, irrespective of the gender inequality index used. This pattern emerged because women’s MACH-IV scores decreased as national gender equality increased, whereas men’s scores remained stable. We discuss the relevance of these findings for the literature on sex differences in personality and gender equality paradox.

The Gender-Equality Paradox in Intraindividual Academic Strengths: A Cross-Temporal Analysis

Independent of overall achievement, girls’ intraindividual academic strength is typically reading, whereas boys’ strength is typically mathematics or science. Sex differences in intraindividual strengths are associated with educational and occupational sex disparities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Paradoxically, these sex differences are larger in more gender-equal countries, but the stability of this paradox is debated. We assessed the stability of the gender-equality paradox in intraindividual strengths, and its relation to wealth, by analyzing the academic achievement of nearly 2.5 million adolescents across 85 countries and regions in five waves (from 2006 to 2018) of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Girls’ intraindividual strength in reading and boys’ strength in mathematics and science were stable across countries and waves. Boys’ advantage in science as an intraindividual strength was larger in more gender-equal countries, whereas girls’ advantage in reading was larger in wealthier countries. The results have implications for reducing sex disparities in STEM fields.

Why is the percentage of female engineers higher in Algeria than in Switzerland? The Gender Equality Paradox – Evidence and Explications

The gender gap in the fields of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computer science) in richer and more egalitarian countries compared to poorer and less egalitarian countries is called the “Gender Equality Paradox” (GEP). We provide an overview of the evidence for the GEP and discuss criticism against the GEP and its explanations. We suggest a new framework to explain the GEP by combining identity economics with happiness economics. Applying this framework, we suggest, that in rich countries an increase in wealth tends to increase the contradiction between the female gender role and STEM-aspirations while the male gender role remains unaffected.

Deconstructing the gender-equality paradox.

Studies advancing the hypothesis of a "gender-equality paradox" have found that societies with more gender equality demonstrate larger gender differences across a range of phenomena. In doing so, they rely on that practice of predicting an algebraic difference score-calculated from mean scores for men and women across a set of countries-with an index of gender equality or some related concept. We argue that direct difference score predictions of this type are impossible to interpret because very different combinations of constituents-mean scores of men and women and properties of these means-can produce identical direct difference score predictions. We reanalyzed three large cross-cultural data sets with 15 variables from three different domains-attitudes toward science and technology, economic preferences, and personality traits-to showcase our method of deconstructing difference score predictions and to investigate to what extent the rhetoric of the gender-equality paradox describes a real phenomenon. The results were highly heterogeneous. For some characteristics, men's and women's country-level means varied identically as a function of country-level gender equality (no paradox). For other characteristics, there were differences in how men's and women's means varied. Whether these differences could be described in the rhetoric of the paradox varied. More pertinent is the necessity of deconstructing difference score predictions into their constituent components before attempting to answer questions regarding a paradox. It is in the terminology of these components and their properties that future hypotheses should be tested. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Supplemental Material for Deconstructing the Gender-Equality Paradox

Supplemental Material for Deconstructing the Gender-Equality Paradox

Do STEM women feel ethically and emotionally better prepared for their careers than men?

Despite a growing imperative for graduates to possess STEM skills, both to boost their employability prospects and their perceived economic value, it is critical to also consider the professional or 'soft skills' that will enable these graduates to thrive in their careers. Ironically, gender differences in personality and occupational choice are larger, not smaller, in more gender-equal countries. This is known as the gender equality paradox and in STEM it highlights the importance of purposeful initiatives throughout the educational trajectory, even in countries with higher levels of gender equality. This study employed an online self-assessment of perceived employability (PE) using a validated instrument and analyzed the data from 2493 STEM students studying at multiple Australian universities. The findings, underpinned by Social Cognitive Careers Theory, indicate that female report greater confidence than their male peers in ethical literacy and in some emotional literacy skills; these are understood to be critical soft skills for STEM graduates. This distinction is more pronounced in the natural and physical sciences and within information technology fields. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.

A Systematic Review and New Analyses of the Gender-Equality Paradox.

Some studies show that living conditions, such as economy, gender equality, and education, are associated with the magnitude of psychological sex differences. We systematically and quantitatively reviewed 54 articles and conducted new analyses on 27 meta-analyses and large-scale studies to investigate the association between living conditions and psychological sex differences. We found that sex differences in personality, verbal abilities, episodic memory, and negative emotions are more pronounced in countries with higher living conditions. In contrast, sex differences in sexual behavior, partner preferences, and math are smaller in countries with higher living conditions. We also observed that economic indicators of living conditions, such as gross domestic product, are most sensitive in predicting the magnitude of sex differences. Taken together, results indicate that more sex differences are larger, rather than smaller, in countries with higher living conditions. It should therefore be expected that the magnitude of most psychological sex differences will remain unchanged or become more pronounced with improvements in living conditions, such as economy, gender equality, and education.

Gender Stereotypes Can Explain the Gender-Equality Paradox

Gender Stereotypes Can Explain the Gender-Equality Paradox

The Gender Equality Paradox in STEM fields: Evidence, criticism, and implications

The gender gap in the fields of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computer science) in richer and more egalitarian countries compared to poorer and less egalitarian countries is called “Gender Equality Paradox” (GEP). We provide an overview of the evidence for the GEP and respond to criticism against the GEP. We explain the GEP by the higher identity costs of women in wealthier countries due to an increase in the gender stereotype gap and at the same time a lower marginal utility of wealth. We discuss why the GEP in rich countries in the future might enlarge the gender pay gap in spite of more gender equality.

Gender stereotypes embedded in natural language are stronger in more economically developed and individualistic countries.

Gender stereotypes contribute to gender imbalances, and analyzing their variations across countries is important for understanding and mitigating gender inequalities. However, measuring stereotypes is difficult, particularly in a cross-cultural context. Word embeddings are a recent useful tool in natural language processing permitting to measure the collective gender stereotypes embedded in a society. In this work, we used word embedding models pre-trained on large text corpora from more than 70 different countries to examine how gender stereotypes vary across countries. We considered stereotypes associating men with career and women with family as well as those associating men with math or science and women with arts or liberal arts. Relying on two different sources (Wikipedia and Common Crawl), we found that these gender stereotypes are all significantly more pronounced in the text corpora of more economically developed and more individualistic countries. Our analysis suggests that more economically developed countries, while being more gender equal along several dimensions, also have stronger gender stereotypes. Public policy aiming at mitigating gender imbalances in these countries should take this feature into account. Besides, our analysis sheds light on the "gender equality paradox," i.e. on the fact that gender imbalances in a large number of domains are paradoxically stronger in more developed/gender equal/individualistic countries.

Does the gender-equality paradox hold on the micro level? An assessment of the effect of household wealth on gendered math intentions for 60 countries

The Gender-Equality Paradox (GEP) describes the phenomenon that the gender gap in the preference for and choice of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors is larger in more affluent and gender-egalitarian societies. GEP has theoretically been explained by greater economic opportunities in affluent societies for gendered self-realization, yet the literature lacks a test of this explanation on the individual level. This study tests (a) whether household wealth is associated with a greater male-favorable gender gap in student's math intentions, (b) whether this association, if any, is different in size and shape in more affluent and less affluent countries, and (c) whether household wealth can account for GEP regarding math intentions. Multilevel regression analyses of 15-year-old students' intentions to study math rather than language from 60 countries of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 display that household wealth is only weakly and positively related to girls' and boys' math intentions and does not increase or decrease the gender gap in math intentions. This pattern of household wealth effects does not differ between more affluent and less affluent countries, and household wealth cannot account for GEP regarding math intentions. These findings underline that the economic need/opportunity interpretation of GEP does not hold on the micro level and requires further research into the drivers of GEP.

Do women's empowerment and self-expression values change adolescents' gendered occupational expectations? Longitudinal evidence against the gender-equality paradox from 26 European countries.

Despite the increases in women's educational attainment in recent decades, female labor market participation and labor market returns are still lower than those of their male counterparts. Among the main factors explaining this persistence of economic inequality is the persistently gendered nature of occupational expectations, which results in gender segregation of labor. In this paper, we describe how gender-specific adolescents' occupational expectations change over time (2006-2018) and how women's empowerment and cultural norms might influence gender-specific occupational expectations. Against the backdrop of the research on the gender-equality paradox and from a comparative perspective, we focus on national and institutional characteristics to investigate how individual and national factors explain gendered occupational expectations. We answer our research questions by applying a two-step multilevel model with fixed effects. For this, we used PISA data and merged them with state-level information from 26 European countries. We add to existing research by making three contributions. First, we describe the changes in occupational expectations over time within European countries by looking at the gender composition of the desired occupation and distinguishing three categories (gender-typical, gender-balanced, and gender-atypical). Second, we investigate the relationship between national characteristics and the evolution of gendered occupational expectations separately by gender to reveal gender-specific mechanisms. Third, by using data from two-time points, we explore which national-level changes lead to changes in students' occupational expectations. Our first descriptive results show that the patterns of how students' occupational expectations change over time differ remarkably between countries. In 2018 in some countries, students' occupational expectations became more segregated while in others the number of students with gender-balanced or gender-atypical expectations increased. Our fixed effects models show that women's empowerment and self-expression value explained variance over time. For example, women's empowerment measured via an increase in women's employment and participation in parliament led to less gender-typical occupational expectations among girls and boys. Similarly, a rise in self-expression values led to less gender-typical occupational expectations, again for both boys and girls. Remarkably, our results do not verify the gender-equality paradox for occupational expectations, as is the case in previous cross-sectional analyses.

Taking Stock of the Evidence for the Gender-Equality Paradox in Gendered Names: A Reply to Berggren (2023) with New Data

A phonetic feature called voicing has been shown to reflect the gendering of names. Vishkin et al. leveraged this insight to examine gender differentiation as a function of increasing gender equality, both across historical time and across the 50 United States. In this reply, I address a wide range of criticisms raised by Berggren on these findings. I begin by presenting novel data from 76+ million baby names in France from 1900 to 2021. Findings converge with Berggren’s conclusion that the historical trend of voicing of female names is nonlinear and therefore cannot be fully accounted for by the monotonic increase of gender equality. However, I show the state-level analysis is robust to his critiques. I conclude that there are more gendered names in more gender-equal societies at the state level, even though the historical data does not shed light on the historical development of this phenomenon.

Tech-Savvy Men and Caring Women: Middle School Students’ Gender Stereotypes Predict Interest in Tech-Education

The labor market is strongly gender segregated with few women working in the tech sector (e.g., IT) and few men working in the care sector (e.g., nursing). We tested the hypothesis that middle school students strongly associate technology with men and caregiving with women in a Swedish context (i.e., a country that scores high in gender equality indices), and that these gender stereotypes for tech relate to girls’ lower interest in tech-focused education. We measured technology/caregiving gender stereotypes with implicit (the Implicit Association Test) and explicit (self-report) measures in a sample of middle school students (n = 873). The results supported the main hypotheses, and corroborate Eccles’s expectancy value theory, indicating that the endorsement of implicit gender stereotypes may serve as barriers to pursuing masculine-typed career paths for women. Further, a sample of middle school teachers (n = 86) showed stronger implicit gender stereotypes than the students. Unexpectedly, middle school girls with a foreign background showed no implicit gender stereotypes, which we discuss in relation to the gender-equality paradox. These findings suggest that to fulfill the recruitment needs of an increasingly digitalized world, the tech-industry and other stakeholders should put effort into counteracting the stereotype that technology is for men.

Linking gender differences with gender equality: A systematic-narrative literature review of basic skills and personality.

There is controversy regarding whether gender differences are smaller or larger in societies that promote gender equality highlighting the need for an integrated analysis. This review examines literature correlating, on a national level, gender differences in basic skills-mathematics, science (including attitudes and anxiety), and reading-as well as personality, to gender equality indicators. The aim is to assess the cross-national pattern of these differences when linked to measures of gender equality and explore new explanatory variables that can shed light on this linkage. The review was based on quantitative research relating country-level measures of gender differences to gender equality composite indices and specific indicators. The findings show that the mathematics gender gap from the PISA and TIMMS assessments, is not linked to composite indices and specific indicators, but gender differences are larger in gender-equal countries for reading, mathematics attitudes, and personality (Big Five, HEXACO, Basic Human Values, and Vocational Interests). Research on science and overall scores (mathematics, science, and reading considered together) is inconclusive. It is proposed that the paradox in reading results from the interrelation between basic skills and the attempt to increase girls' mathematics abilities both acting simultaneously while the paradox in mathematics attitudes might be explained by girls being less exposed to mathematics than boys. On the other hand, a more nuanced understanding of the gender equality paradox in personality is advanced, in which a gene-environment-cultural interplay accounts for the phenomenon. Challenges for future cross-national research are discussed.

The STEM paradox: Factors affecting diversity in STEM fields

Women obtain more than half of U.S. undergraduate degrees in biology, chemistry, and mathematics, yet they earn less than 20% of computer science, engineering, and physics undergraduate degrees (NSF). Why are women represented in some STEM fields more than others? The STEM Paradox or Gender Equality Paradox show that countries with greater gender equality have a lower percentage of female STEM graduates. This phenomenon as well as other factors explaining gender disparities in STEM participation and some possible solutions are discussed.