STEM gender stereotypes from early childhood through adolescence at informal science centres.
Authors
McGuire, Luke
Mulvey, Kelly Lynn
Goff, Eric
Irvin, Matthew
Fields, Grace
Hartstone-Rose, Adam
Rutland, Adam
Journal Title
Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
ISSN
0193-3973
Publisher
Elsevier
Volume
67
Number
101109
Type
Article
This Version
VoR
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
McGuire, L., Mulvey, K. L., Goff, E., Irvin, M., Winterbottom, M., Fields, G., Hartstone-Rose, A., & et al. (2020). STEM gender stereotypes from early childhood through adolescence at informal science centres.. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 67 (101109)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2020.101109
Abstract
Stereotypes about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are associated with reduced STEM engagement among girls and women. The present study examined these stereotypes from early childhood through adolescence within informal science learning sites (ISLS; science museums, zoos, aquariums). Further, the study explored whether interactions with male or female educators influenced STEM stereotypes. Participants (n = 997, female = 572) were ISLS visitors in the UK and USA who either interacted with an educator, or no educator. With age participants were more likely to report that “both boys and girls” are “usually”, “should” be, and “can” be good at STEM. Independent of age, male participants reported that their own gender group “should” be good at STEM. Educator interactions did not influence stereotype responses. These results highlight early childhood as a key developmental window in which to challenge ideas about who can and should be proficient in STEM.
Keywords
STEM stereotypes, gender stereotypes, informal settings
Sponsorship
Wellcome Trust: Science Learning Plus
Embargo Lift Date
2100-01-01
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2020.101109
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/300545
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY)
Licence URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/