Improving Girls’ Sense of Fit in Science

O’Brien, Laurie T.; Hitti, Aline; Shaffer, Emily; Camp, Amanda R. Van; Henry, Donata R.; Gilbert, Patricia

doi:10.1177/1948550616671997

Cited by 52 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 35 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Role models can be inspirational and can reduce the selfstereotyping of stigmatized groups, and this may be the case for women in male-dominated STEM fields (Lockwood, 2006;Betz and Sekaquaptewa, 2012;O'Brien et al, 2017). Interventions based on role models revolve around enhancing a sense of belonging and identity in STEM fields, thereby fostering the personal connections of girls to the STEM community (Casad al., 2018;Van Camp et al, 2019).…”

Section: Role-model Influencementioning

confidence: 99%

Girls in STEM: Is It a Female Role-Model Thing?

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Women are underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers, and this poses new challenges at the dawn of the era of digital transformation. The goal of the present study is to demonstrate how female role models influence girls' preferences for STEM studies. This paper evaluates a role-model intervention in which female volunteers working in STEM go into schools to talk to girls about their careers. The study was conducted with 304 girls, from 12 years old (sixth primary grade) to 16 years old (fourth secondary grade), both before and after the role-model sessions. An adaptation of the expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation is used to test the extent to which this role-model intervention improves girls' beliefs that they can be successful in STEM fields and increases their likelihood of choosing a STEM career. The results of multigroup structural equation modeling analysis show that on average, the role-model intervention has a positive and significant effect on mathematics enjoyment, importance attached to math, expectations of success in math, and girls' aspirations in STEM, and a negative effect on gender stereotypes. Additionally, the female role-model sessions significantly increase the positive impact of expectations of success on STEM choices. Finally, the moderation role of the counterstereotypical content of the role-model sessions is tested. The results show that the higher the counterstereotypical character of the sessions, the higher the relationship between expectations of success in math and the choice of STEM. These results are discussed regarding their implications for long-term STEM engagement.

show abstract

Section: Role-model Influencementioning

confidence: 99%

Girls in STEM: Is It a Female Role-Model Thing?

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Very narrowly defined norms of success with steep "up-or-out" systems (such as in finance, consultancy, and academia) are very excluding and communicate that one should either adhere to a White heteronormative standard of success (which is likely to promote self-group distancing) or seek a career elsewhere. The presence of minority group role models in key positions in the organization can broaden the perspective on who fits these positions and improve performance, self-evaluations, and aspiration among low-status groups (Lockwood, 2006;O'Brien et al, 2016; for a review see Morgenroth, Ryan, & Peters, 2015 bias is so systematic that even minority members themselves justify their derogated position. These deeply rooted social biases should be tackled from the top down in formal governmental laws and regulations that ensure equal rights, but also from the bottom up, by changing the narrative in informal conversations at work, on the street, and at home, because daily conversations on the micro-level about what is considered "normal" can be a vehicle for social change on the macro-level (Koudenburg, Postmes, & Gordijn, 2017).…”

Section: Alternative S Tr Ateg Ie S and Interventi On Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Distancing from a stigmatized social identity: State of the art and future research agenda on self‐group distancing

Veelen

Veldman

Laar

et al. 2020

Euro J Social Psych

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite equal rights, minority groups such as ethnic minorities, LGBTQ + people, and people with mental or physical disabilities face discrimination on a day‐to‐day basis in subtle and hard‐to‐recognize forms. As discrimination slips beneath the surface, it becomes difficult to fight the stigma using collective social identity coping mechanisms. Instead, individual mobility responses such as distancing the self from the stigmatized identity (“self‐group distancing”) become more viable as a way to improve one's individual standing. In this overview of the state of the art, we take a social identity lens to reflect on the current empirical knowledge base on self‐group distancing as a coping mechanism and provide a framework on what self‐group distancing is; when, where and why self‐group distancing likely occurs; and what its consequences are at the individual and the collective level. The contributions in this special issue provide novel insights into how these processes unfold, and serve as a basis to set a future research agenda, for example on what can be done to prevent self‐group distancing (i.e., interventions). Together, the insights highlight that while self‐group distancing may seem effective to (strategically and temporarily) alleviate discomfort or to improve one's own position, on a broader collective level and over time self‐group distancing tends to keep the current unequal social hierarchy in place.

show abstract

“…Interventions that fail to facilitate identification with the role model may not result in a role model effect. Studies that have assessed interventions in which adolescent girls engaged in science tasks and interacted with female scientists revealed that girls did not immediately and spontaneously view the female scientists as potential role models (Buck et al, 2008; O’Brien et al, 2017). Specifically, girls only began to view the female scientists as role models after establishing personal connections with them (Buck et al, 2008).…”

Section: Effects Of Exposure To Role Models In Adolescence and Early mentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Exposure to Counterstereotypical Role Models Influence Girls’ and Women’s Gender Stereotypes and Career Choices? A Review of Social Psychological Research

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Gender roles are formed in early childhood and continue to influence behavior through adolescence and adulthood, including the choice of academic majors and careers. In many countries, men are underrepresented in communal roles in health care, elementary education, and domestic functions (HEED fields, Croft et al., 2015), whereas women are underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) fields (Beede et al., 2011) and top leadership positions (Leopold et al., 2016). Theories focusing on the development of gender roles suggest that across the lifespan people perceive certain roles to be more or less appropriate for their gender (e.g., Gender Schema Theory, Martin and Halverson, 1981; Social Role Theory, Eagly and Wood, 2011). Specifically, researchers have postulated that observing same-sex role models triggers learning processes whereby observers internalize gender-stereotypical knowledge of roles and act accordingly, which results in gender-congruent aspirations and behavior. It seems reasonable that if observing men and women in gender congruent roles fosters gender-congruent aspirations and behavior, then frequently observing gender-incongruent role models (e.g., male kindergarten teachers or female scientists and leaders) should reduce gender stereotyping and promote gender-counterstereotypical aspirations and behavior. In many countries, governments and societal decision-makers have formed initiatives based on the idea that exposure to gender-counterstereotypical role models influences aspirations and career choices among children, adolescents, and young adults. The present review gives an overview of research-based interventions involving observing or interacting with counterstereotypical role models, particularly focusing on outcomes for girls and women. Extending earlier reviews, we summarize laboratory-based and field-based studies and then critically discuss and integrate the findings in order to provide an overall picture of how counterstereotypical role models shape observers’ occupational aspirations and academic choices in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. We conclude by outlining suggestions for future research and briefly discussing implications for future interventions.

show abstract

Improving Girls’ Sense of Fit in Science

Cited by 52 publications

References 35 publications

Girls in STEM: Is It a Female Role-Model Thing?

Girls in STEM: Is It a Female Role-Model Thing?

Distancing from a stigmatized social identity: State of the art and future research agenda on self‐group distancing

Does Exposure to Counterstereotypical Role Models Influence Girls’ and Women’s Gender Stereotypes and Career Choices? A Review of Social Psychological Research

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About