Do Gender Differences in Perceived Prototypical Computer Scientists and Engineers Contribute to Gender Gaps in Computer Science and Engineering?
Women are vastly underrepresented in the fields of computer science and engineering (CS&E). We examined whether women might view the intellectual characteristics of prototypical individuals in CS&E in more stereotype-consistent ways than men might and, consequently, show less interest in CS&E. We as...
| Publicado en: | Sex Roles Vol. 78; no. 1-2; pp. 40 - 52 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Springer Nature
Jan2018
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=127145945&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 127145945 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 03600025 SXR jtl: Sex Roles issn: 03600025 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jan2018 vid: 78 iid: 1-2 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 127145945 10.1007/s11199-017-0763-x ppf: 40 ppct: 12 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 507KB tig: atl: Do Gender Differences in Perceived Prototypical Computer Scientists and Engineers Contribute to Gender Gaps in Computer Science and Engineering? aug: au: Ehrlinger, Joyce Plant, E. Ashby Hartwig, Marissa K. Vossen, Jordan J. Columb, Corey J. Brewer, Lauren E. affil: Department of Psychology, Washington State University, 99163, Pullman, WA, USA Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA Department of Psychology, Prairie View A & M University, Prairie View, TX, USA Department of Psychology, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX, USA su: Gender differences (Sociology) Stereotypes Women's attitudes Men's attitudes Women computer scientists Women in engineering sug: subj: Gender differences (Sociology) Stereotypes Women's attitudes Men's attitudes Women computer scientists Women in engineering keyword: Confidence Gender gap Self-concept Social perception STEM Stereotyping Confidence Gender gap Self-concept Social perception STEM Stereotyping ab: Women are vastly underrepresented in the fields of computer science and engineering (CS&E). We examined whether women might view the intellectual characteristics of prototypical individuals in CS&E in more stereotype-consistent ways than men might and, consequently, show less interest in CS&E. We asked 269 U.S. college students (187, 69.5% women) to describe the prototypical computer scientist (Study 1) or engineer (Study 2) through open-ended descriptions as well as through a set of trait ratings. Participants also rated themselves on the same set of traits and rated their similarity to the prototype. Finally, participants in both studies were asked to describe their likelihood of pursuing future college courses and careers in computer science (Study 1) or engineering (Study 2). Across both studies, we found that women offered more stereotype-consistent ratings than did men of the intellectual characteristics of prototypes in CS (Study 1) and engineering (Study 2). Women also perceived themselves as less similar to the prototype than men did. Further, the observed gender differences in prototype perceptions mediated the tendency for women to report lower interest in CS&E fields relative to men. Our work highlights the importance of prototype perceptions for understanding the gender gap in CS&E and suggests avenues for interventions that may increase women's representation in these vital fields. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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