Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Not Feeling Good in STEM: Effects of Stereotype Activation and Anticipated Affect on Women’s Career Aspirations

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Sex Roles Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Despite great efforts to increase women’s participation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), relatively few women choose careers in these fields. We argue that women might expect to feel less good in contexts where unfavorable gender stereotypes are activated in their minds (e.g., by strong underrepresentation) and, consequently, are less likely to aspire to STEM careers. In two pilot studies (Ns = 28/61), we confirmed that undergraduate women expect more negative and less positive affect (i.e., generally (un)pleasant emotions) and a heightened sense of threat in a stereotype-activating, compared to a not stereotype-activating, test scenario. In Study 1 (N = 102), the scenario indirectly lowered college women’s STEM career aspiration (adjusted for preliminary domain identification) due to lower anticipated positive affect, but not to higher negative affect, in the stereotype-activating scenario. The scenario had no detrimental effect on college men’s anticipated affect or their career aspirations. In Study 2, 91 high school students reported anticipated affect and self-efficacy in different university majors and their intentions to choose the subject as a major. The more stereotypically male (in terms of gender distribution) the subject, the more negative and the less positive was young women’s, but not young men’s, anticipated affect. Only lower positive, but not higher negative, affect predicted low study intentions over and above self-efficacy. To increase women’s aspirations, their expected feelings in STEM deserve attention. One approach to foster positive affect might be to create less stereotypical STEM contexts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct, effective June 2010. Available: http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/principles.pdf. Accessed 6 August 2014.

  • Anderson, D. R., Burnham, K. P., & Thompson, W. L. (2000). Null hypothesis testing: Problems, prevalence, and an alternative. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 64(4), 912–923. doi:10.2307/3803199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K. D., DeWall, C. N., & Zhang, L. Q. (2007). How emotion shapes behavior: Feedback, anticipation, and reflection, rather than direct causation. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11(2), 167–203. doi:10.1177/1088868307301033.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Best, K. L., Sanwald, U., Ihsen, S., & Ittel, A. (2013). Gender and STEM in Germany: Policies enhancing women’s participation in academia. International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, 5(3), 292–304.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cadinu, M., Maass, A., Frigerio, S., Impagliazzo, L., & Latinotti, S. (2003). Stereotype threat: The effect of expectancy on performance. European Journal of Social Psychology, 33(2), 267–285. doi:10.1002/Ejsp.145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cadinu, M., Maass, A., Rosabianca, A., & Kiesner, J. (2005). Why do women underperform under stereotype threat? Evidence for the role of negative thinking. Psychological Science, 16(7), 572–578. doi:10.1111/j.0956-7976.2005.01577.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1990). Origins and functions of positive and negative affect: A control-process view. Psychological Review, 97(1), 19–35. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.97.1.19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheryan, S., Plaut, V. C., Davies, P. G., & Steele, C. M. (2009). Ambient belonging: How stereotypical cues impact gender participation in computer science. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(6), 1045–1060. doi:10.1037/a0016239.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cheryan, S., Siy, J. O., Vichayapai, M., Drury, B. J., & Kim, S. (2011). Do female and male role models who embody STEM stereotypes hinder women’s anticipated success in STEM? Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2(6), 656–664. doi:10.1177/1948550611405218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1994). The earth is round (p < .05). American Psychologist, 49(12), 997–1003. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.49.12.997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Croft, A., Schmader, T., & Block, K. (2015). An underexamined inequality: Cultural and psychological barriers to men’s engagement with communal roles. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 19(4), 343–370. doi:10.1177/1088868314564789.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Crombie, G., Sinclair, N., Silverthorn, N., Byrne, B., DuBois, D., & Trinneer, A. (2005). Predictors of young adolescents’ math grades and course enrollment intentions: Gender similarities and differences. Sex Roles, 52(5-6), 351–367. doi:10.1007/s11199-005-2678-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cumming, G. (2014). The new statistics: Why and how. Psychological Science, 25(1), 7–29. doi:10.1177/0956797613504966.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, P. G., Spencer, S. J., Quinn, D. M., & Gerhardstein, R. (2002). Consuming images: How television commercials that elicit stereotype threat can restrain women academically and professionally. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(12), 1615–1628. doi:10.1177/014616702237644.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, P. G., Spencer, S. J., & Steele, C. M. (2005). Clearing the air: Identity safety moderates the effects of stereotype threat on women’s leadership aspirations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(2), 276–287. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.88.2.276.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Diekman, A. B., Brown, E. R., Johnston, A. M., & Clark, E. K. (2010). Seeking congruity between goals and roles: A new look at why women opt out of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers. Psychological Science, 21(8), 1051–1057. doi:10.1177/0956797610377342.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Diekman, A. B., Clark, E. K., Johnston, A. M., Brown, E. R., & Steinberg, M. (2011). Malleability in communal goals and beliefs influences attraction to STEM careers: Evidence for a goal congruity perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(5), 902–918. doi:10.1037/A0025199.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eccles, J. S. (2005). Studying gender and ethnic differences in participation in math, physical science, and information technology. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2005(110), 7–14. doi:10.1002/cd.146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emmons, R. A. (2003). Personal goals, life meaning, and virtue: Wellsprings of a positive life. In C. L. M. Keyes (Ed.), Flourishing: Positive psychology and the life well-lived (pp. 105–128). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, C. D., & Diekman, A. B. (2009). On motivated role selection: Gender beliefs, distant goals, and career interest. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 33(2), 235–249. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2009.01493.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finch, S., Cumming, G., & Thomason, N. (2001). Reporting of statistical inference in the Journal of Applied Psychology: Little evidence of reform. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 61(2), 181–210. doi:10.1177/00131640121971167.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., Glick, P., & Xu, J. (2002). A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 878–902. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.878.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Forbes, C. E., & Schmader, T. (2010). Retraining attitudes and stereotypes to affect motivation and cognitive capacity under stereotype threat. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(5), 740–754. doi:10.1037/a0020971.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Good, C., Rattan, A., & Dweck, C. S. (2012). Why do women opt out? Sense of belonging and women’s representation in mathematics. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(4), 700–717. doi:10.1037/a0026659.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, J. K., Cryder, C. E., & Cheema, A. (2013). Data collection in a flat world: The strengths and weaknesses of Mechanical Turk samples. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 26(3), 213–224. doi:10.1002/bdm.1753.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A. F. (2009). Beyond Baron and Kenny: Statistical mediation analysis in the new millennium. Communication Monographs, 76(4), 408–420. doi:10.1080/03637750903310360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirschi, A., & Herrmann, A. (2012). Vocational identity achievement as a mediator of presence of calling and life satisfaction. Journal of Career Assessment, 20(3), 309–321. doi:10.1177/1069072711436158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hubbard, R. (1995). The earth is highly significantly round (p<.0001). American Psychologist, 50(12), 1098. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.50.12.1098.a.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IBM. (2013). IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows (Version 22.0) [Computer software]. Armonk: IBM Corp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inzlicht, M., & Ben-Zeev, T. (2000). A threatening intellectual environment: Why females are susceptible to experiencing problem-solving deficits in the presence of males. Psychological Science, 11(5), 365–371. doi:10.1111/1467-9280.00272.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johns, M., Schmader, T., & Martens, A. (2005). Knowing is half the battle teaching stereotype threat as a means of improving women's math performance. Psychological Science, 16(3), 175–179. doi:10.1111/j.0956-7976.2005.00799.

  • Johns, M., Inzlicht, M., & Schmader, T. (2008). Stereotype threat and executive resource depletion: Examining the influence of emotion regulation. Journal of Experimental Psychology-General, 137(4), 691–705. doi:10.1037/A0013834.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Keller, J., & Dauenheimer, D. (2003). Stereotype threat in the classroom: Dejection mediates the disrupting threat effect on women’s math performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(3), 371–381. doi:10.1177/0146167202250218.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • King, L. A., Hicks, J. A., Krull, J. L., & Del Gaiso, A. K. (2006). Positive affect and the experience of meaning in life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(1), 179–196. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.90.1.179.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kronberger, N., & Horwath, I. (2013). The ironic costs of performing well: Grades differentially predict male and female dropout from engineering. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 35(6), 534–546. doi:10.1080/01973533.2013.840629.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lesko, A. C., & Corpus, J. H. (2006). Discounting the difficult: How high math-identified women respond to stereotype threat. Sex Roles, 54(1), 113–125. doi:10.1007/s11199-005-8873-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mellers, B. A., & McGraw, A. P. (2001). Anticipated emotions as guides to choice. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10(6), 210–214. doi:10.1111/1467-8721.00151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, M. C., Steele, C. M., & Gross, J. J. (2007). Signaling threat: How situational cues affect women in math, science, and engineering settings. Psychological Science, 18(10), 879–885. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01995.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen, H.-H. D., & Ryan, A. M. (2008). Does stereotype threat affect test performance of minorities and women? A meta-analysis of experimental evidence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(6), 1314–1334. doi:10.1037/a0012702.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Osborne, J. W. (2001). Testing stereotype threat: Does anxiety explain race and sex differences in achievement? Contemporary Educational Psychology, 26(3), 291–310. doi:10.1006/ceps.2000.1052.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Preacher, K., & Hayes, A. (2004). SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 36(4), 717–731. doi:10.3758/BF03206553.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raudenbush, S. W., Bryk, A. S., & Congdon, R. (2004). HLM 6 for windows [Computer software]. Lincolnwood: Scientific Software International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richard, R., van der Pligt, J., & de Vries, N. (1996). Anticipated affect and behavioral choice. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 18(2), 111–129. doi:10.1207/s15324834basp1802_1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schuster, C., Martiny, S. E., & Schmader, T. (2015). Distracted by the unthought – Suppression and reappraisal of mind wandering under stereotype threat. PLoS ONE, 10(3), e0122207. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0122207.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sekaquaptewa, D., & Thompson, M. (2003). Solo status, stereotype threat, and performance expectancies: Their effects on women’s performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39(1), 68–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, J. R. (2011). Different groups, different threats: A multi-threat approach to the experience of stereotype threats. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(4), 464–480. doi:10.1177/0146167211398140.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, J. R., & Williams, A. M. (2012). The role of stereotype threats in undermining girls’ and women’s performance and interest in STEM fields. Sex Roles, 66(3-4), 175–183. doi:10.1007/s11199-011-0051-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, J. L., Lewis, K. L., Hawthorne, L., & Hodges, S. D. (2013). When trying hard isn’t natural: Women’s belonging with and motivation for male-dominated STEM fields as a function of effort expenditure concerns. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(2), 131–143. doi:10.1177/0146167212468332.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smithson, M. (2001). Correct confidence intervals for various regression effect sizes and parameters: The importance of noncentral distributions in computing intervals. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 61(4), 605–632. doi:10.1177/00131640121971392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, S. J., Steele, C. M., & Quinn, D. M. (1999). Stereotype threat and women’s math performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35(1), 4–28. doi:10.1006/jesp.1998.1373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stangor, C., Carr, C., & Kiang, L. (1998). Activating stereotypes undermines task performance expectations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(5), 1191–1197. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.75.5.1191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Statistisches Bundesamt (2012). Bildung und Kultur: Studierende an Hochschulen. [Education and Culture: Students in Higher Education]. Series 11, Vol. 4.1. Retrieved from https://www.destatis.de/DE/Publikationen/Thematisch/BildungForschungKultur/Hochschulen/StudierendeHochschulenEndg.html.

  • Steele, C. M., & Aronson, J. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test-performance of African-Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(5), 797–811. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.69.5.797.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Steele, C. M., Spencer, S. J., & Aronson, J. (2002). Contending with group image: The psychology of stereotype and social identity threat. In J. M. Olson & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 34, pp. 379–440). San Diego: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steger, M. F., & Dik, B. J. (2009). If one is looking for meaning in life, does it help to find meaning in work? Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 1(3), 303–320. doi:10.1111/j.1758-0854.2009.01018.x.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephens, E. J., & Pekrun, R. (2011). Anticipated achievement emotions as antecedents of achievement goals. Munich: Department of Personality and Educational Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Der Schalk, J., Bruder, M., & Manstead, A. (2012). Regulating emotion in the context of interpersonal decisions: The role of anticipated pride and regret. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, Article 513, 1–9. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00513.

  • Wang, M.-T., & Degol, J. (2013). Motivational pathways to STEM career choices: Using expectancy–value perspective to understand individual and gender differences in STEM fields. Developmental Review, 33(4), 304–340. doi:10.1016/j.dr.2013.08.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, M.-T., Eccles, J. S., & Kenny, S. (2013). Not lack of ability but more choice individual and gender differences in choice of careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Psychological Science, 24(5), 770–775. doi:10.1177/0956797612458937.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Woodcock, A., Hernandez, P. R., Estrada, M., & Schultz, P. W. (2012). The consequences of chronic stereotype threat: Domain disidentification and abandonment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(4), 635–646. doi:10.1037/a0029120.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wuensch, K. L. (2012). Using SPSS to obtain a confidence interval for Cohen’s d. Retrieved from http://core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/SPSS/CI-d-SPSS.pdf.

Download references

Acknowledgments

The data presented in this manuscript was collected when both authors were at the University of Konstanz. We thank Solange Zeller for her contribution to the data collection of Study 2, and Madeleine Bieg, Laura Froehlich, Sog Yee Mok, Elisabeth Parks-Stamm, and Marina Schall for their constructive feedback on earlier versions of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Passau, Dr.-Hans-Kapfinger-Strasse 14b, 94032, Passau, Germany

    Carolin Schuster

  2. UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway

    Sarah E. Martiny

Authors
  1. Carolin Schuster
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sarah E. Martiny
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carolin Schuster.

Ethics declarations

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare with regard to the submitted manuscript or the research presented in it. Participants were treated following the ethical code of conduct of the American Psychological Association (APA 2010). Specifically, before they gave consent to participate, they were informed that participation was voluntary, that their answers were anonymous, and that they could quit and withdraw the data already given at any point of the session. The rewards (or chances to win them) were also made transparent at the beginning. Participants of the experimental studies, which included a stereotype-activating manipulation, were debriefed at the end. The information about the studies’ goals and the effects of stereotype activation provided in the debriefing was intended to interrupt the priming of the stereotype, and might even serve as protection against stereotype threat effects (Johns et al. 2005).

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

(DOCX 31 kb)

ESM 2

(DOCX 16 kb)

ESM 3

(DOCX 85 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Schuster, C., Martiny, S.E. Not Feeling Good in STEM: Effects of Stereotype Activation and Anticipated Affect on Women’s Career Aspirations. Sex Roles 76, 40–55 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-016-0665-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-016-0665-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation