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Gender Stereotypes and Education

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Gender and Sexuality Development

Part of the book series: Focus on Sexuality Research ((FOSR))

Abstract

Girls and women have matched boys and men in academic achievements. However, the gender disparity in representation favoring men over women persists in many careers and domains. This chapter focuses on the sociocultural factors shaping women’s participation in the STEM domain and beyond. In particular, I highlight two classes of stereotypes that may contribute to this phenomenon: (1) stereotypes against women’s and girls’ intellectual abilities and (2) stereotypes about the culture of the field. Throughout the chapter, I introduce the two clusters of stereotypes, describe the early emergence of the gender stereotypes about intelligence, illustrate three potential mechanisms working against women’s engagement, and discuss the means through which parents, educators, and society can counter these stereotypes as well as the downstream consequences. Overall, this chapter sheds light on the developmental roots of the gender imbalance across different fields and provides insights on potential interventions remedying this problem.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Lin Bian

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada

    Doug P. VanderLaan

  2. Gender Studies Programme and Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Wang Ivy Wong

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Bian, L. (2022). Gender Stereotypes and Education. In: VanderLaan, D.P., Wong, W.I. (eds) Gender and Sexuality Development. Focus on Sexuality Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84273-4_9

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