Smyth, Greenwald, and Nosek, unpublished, Implicit gender-science stereotype outperforms math scholastic aptitude in identifying science majors
citation
Smyth, F. L., Greenwald, A. G., & Nosek, B. A. (2009). Implicit gender-science stereotype outperforms math scholastic aptitude in identifying science majors. [Request paper]
Abstract
In the United States, women are less likely than men to pursue or complete a science major in college. Gender–science stereotyping, which can operate without intention or awareness, has been identified as a possible mediator of this disparity. In two studies with over 110,000 college students and graduates, women with relatively strong stereotypes associating male with science were least likely to major in science. Men with similarly strong stereotypes were most likely to be science majors. With science major as criterion, an indicator of the implicit gender–science stereotype out-predicted explicit stereotypic associations for both sexes. For women in both studies and men in one, implicit stereotype was a stronger correlate of science major than was math SAT. These effects confirm a potent link between implicit stereotyping and scientific self-concept and identify a psychological difference between men and women at advanced levels of scientific achievement.
Study Supplement analyses
Additional figures for Experiments 1 and 2
Tables
S1.Study1.SATsample.correlations.pdf
S2.Study1and2.SATsamples.stats.bySTEMmajor.pdf
S4.Study2.overall.correlations.pdf
S5.Study2.SATsample.correlations.pdf