The Matilda Effect in Science Communication

Knobloch‐Westerwick, Silvia; Glynn, Carroll J.; Huge, Michael E.

doi:10.1177/1075547012472684

Cited by 373 publications

(121 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…People have a tendency to put others into categories such as the "in-group" and "out-group" based on assumptions made about the characteristics of those who "belong". If a particular STEM discipline, such as Physics, is widely assumed to be a place only for "brilliant" students, as has been found in some social science studies, and brilliance is associated with white male students (Knobloch-Westerwick, Glynn, & Huge, 2013;Leslie, Cimpian, Meyer, & Freeland, 2015;Moss-Racusin, Dovidio, Brescoll, Graham, & Handelsman, 2012); an African American women graduate student may be assumed by others, and somewhat by her own internalized gender norms, to "not belong there" and may constantly feel a need to prove herself. Being with other women of color physics students in a program like PROMISE might help her feel more like an insider, but only generally as a scientist, and in higher education (Gardner, 2010;George et al, 2008George et al, , 2010Golde, 1998Golde, , 2000Hrabowski, 2014;Tapia & Lanius, 2000;Tull et al, 2012).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sense of Belonging and Its Contributing Factors in Graduate Education

O’Meara

Griffin

Kuvaeva

et al. 2017

IJDS

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Aim/Purpose: The purpose of our study was to gain a better understanding of the factors that contribute to graduate student sense of belonging and gain insights into differences in sense of belonging for different groups of students. Background: Sense of belonging, or the feeling that a person is connected to and matters to others in an organization, has been found to influence college student retention and success. Literature on sense of belonging has, however, focused primarily on undergraduate students and little is known about graduate students’ sense of belonging. Methodology: We conducted an exploratory, cross-sectional survey study of graduate students at four public doctoral and comprehensive universities in Maryland, USA. All four institutions were participating in the NSF-funded PROMISE program, which strives to support the retention and academic success of women and underrepresented minority (URM) graduate students. A total of 1,533 graduate students from these four institutions completed the survey. To analyze our data, we used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test direct and indirect effects of multiple latent variables (i.e., gender, race/ethnicity, STEM affiliation, critical mass of women, participation in the PROMISE program, sense of belonging) on each other. Contribution: Research found that sense of belonging influences graduate student retention and success. Thus, gaining a better understanding of the factors that influence graduate student sense of belonging can help improve retention and completion rates, an important issue as national seven-year completion rates have hovered around 44% in the United States. Completion rates have been even lower for women and URM students (i.e., African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders) compared to White students, making sense of belonging an important topic to study for these populations. Findings: We found that professional relationships matter most to graduate student sense of belonging. Professional relationships influenced graduate student sense of belonging more than reported microaggressions and microaffirmations, though they also played a role. We also found differences based on students’ identity or group membership. Overall, microaffirmations played a bigger role in female graduate student sense of belonging and the eco-system of non-STEM programs seemed to have more facilitators of sense of belonging than the ecosystem of STEM programs. Recommendations for Practitioners: We recommend that graduate programs think strategically about enhancing sense of belonging in ways appropriate to the distinct culture and nature of graduate education. For example, departments can make efforts to support sense of belonging through creating community-oriented peer networks of students, transparent policies, and access to information about resources and opportunities. Programs such as PROMISE can support the retention and success of women and URM graduate students, but aspects of these programs also need to be incorporated into graduate programs and departments. Impact on Society: Because graduate student sense of belonging has been found to impact stu-dents’ interest in careers in academia, fostering graduate student sense of be-longing could be a tool for improving pathways to the professoriate for groups that are typically underrepresented in academia such as women and racial or ethnic minorities. Increasing the number of women and URM faculty could, in turn, positively impact the support available to future URM students, which could positively influence future URM students’ sense of belonging. Future Research: Sense of belonging is an important area for future graduate education research and should be studied through survey research with a larger sample of U.S. students than the current study. Sense of belonging is relevant to graduate education worldwide. Future studies might explore graduate student sense of belonging in different national contexts and the role culture plays in shaping it. Moreover, changes in graduate student sense of belonging over the course of their program should be assessed.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sense of Belonging and Its Contributing Factors in Graduate Education

O’Meara

Griffin

Kuvaeva

et al. 2017

IJDS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Since in the study of Feldon and colleagues first year Ph.D. students mainly published as co-authors, it is possible that supervisors rewarded male and female Ph.D. students differently, and thus objective and transparent standards may be missing. This finding could hint at the so-called Matilda Effect (Rossiter 1993), describing a "systematic underrecognition of female scientists" (Knobloch-Westerwick et al 2013). The Matilda Effect was recently tested and supported within an experimental research setting: study participants rated contributions of researches less favorably when they were labelled as coming from a female rather than a male researcher (Knobloch-Westerwick et al 2013).…”

Section: Literature and Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This finding could hint at the so-called Matilda Effect (Rossiter 1993), describing a "systematic underrecognition of female scientists" (Knobloch-Westerwick et al 2013). The Matilda Effect was recently tested and supported within an experimental research setting: study participants rated contributions of researches less favorably when they were labelled as coming from a female rather than a male researcher (Knobloch-Westerwick et al 2013). This is in line with research showing gender stereotypes being linked to the evaluation of male and female behavior at the workplace.…”

Section: Literature and Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Inequity during the Ph.D.: Females in the Life Sciences Benefit Less from Their Integration into the Scientific Community

Epstein¹,

Lachmann

2018

Social Sciences

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Abstract:Female researchers remain underrepresented in higher academic ranks, even within female-dominated fields, such as the life sciences. The phenomenon is often attributed to women's lower publication productivity. The current article explores gender differences with respect to integration into the scientific community, pursued tasks during the Ph.D. (e.g., teaching and research), and publication productivity in the life sciences. Moreover, it explores how these variables relate to the intention of pursuing an academic research career. Survey data with recent Ph.D. graduates from the life sciences in Germany (N = 736) were analyzed through descriptive and multivariate analysis. Females had fewer publications as lead author (1.4 vs. 1.9, p = 0.05). There were no differences in pursued tasks, perceived integration into the scientific community, and co-authorship. However, Ph.D. characteristics affected females and males differently. Only male Ph.D. graduates benefited from being integrated into their scientific community by an increase in lead author publications. In contrast to male Ph.D. graduates, women's academic career intentions were significantly affected by their integration into the scientific community and co-authorship. Results suggest that women may benefit less from their integration into the scientific community and may ascribe more importance to networks for their career progress.

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“…For instance, college students were more likely to rate the same conference abstracts as lower in scientific quality if the author’s name was female instead of male, particularly if these topics had traditional masculine themes (Knobloch-Westerwick et al 2013). Other recent experiments have also shown that faculty are implicitly biased in favor of hiring males in academic positions.…”

Section: Current Evidenced-based Explanations For Gender Gap In Stemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Gap in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM): Current Knowledge, Implications for Practice, Policy, and Future Directions

2016

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Although the gender gap in math course-taking and performance has narrowed in recent decades, females continue to be underrepresented in math-intensive fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Career pathways encompass the ability to pursue a career as well as the motivation to employ that ability. Individual differences in cognitive capacity and motivation are also influenced by broader sociocultural factors. After reviewing research from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics, and education over the past 30 years, we summarize six explanations for US women’s underrepresentation in math-intensive STEM fields: (a) cognitive ability, (b) relative cognitive strengths, (c) occupational interests or preferences, (d) lifestyle values or work-family balance preferences, (e) field-specific ability beliefs, and (f) gender-related stereotypes and biases. We then describe the potential biological and sociocultural explanations for observed gender differences on cognitive and motivational factors and demonstrate the developmental period(s) during which each factor becomes most relevant. We then propose evidence-based recommendations for policy and practice to improve STEM diversity and recommendations for future research directions.

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The Matilda Effect in Science Communication

Cited by 373 publications

References 34 publications

Sense of Belonging and Its Contributing Factors in Graduate Education

Sense of Belonging and Its Contributing Factors in Graduate Education

Gender Inequity during the Ph.D.: Females in the Life Sciences Benefit Less from Their Integration into the Scientific Community

Gender Gap in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM): Current Knowledge, Implications for Practice, Policy, and Future Directions

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