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Not the Sum of Its Parts: Decomposing Implicit Academic Stereotypes to Understand Sense of Fit in Math and English

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An Erratum to this article was published on 06 May 2015

Abstract

Stereotypes about gender differences in math and English ability are pervasive. The current research decomposes math and English stereotypes in order to examine the relationship between the four independent components of these stereotypes (i.e., the stereotypic men-math association, the counter stereotypic men-English association, the counter stereotypic women-math association, and the stereotypic women-English association) and students' sense of fit in math and English. 371 undergraduate men and women from a private university located in the Southern United States participated in the current study. Participants completed the Go/No-Go Association Task (GNAT) to assess the independent stereotype components, followed by composite measures of sense of fit in math and English. For women, the women-math association and the women-English association (i.e., ingroup components of stereotypes), and not the men-math and men-English associations (i.e., outgroup components of stereotypes), predicted sense of fit in math and English. For men, only the men-math association predicted sense of fit in English. We discuss the implications of these findings for interventions aimed at improving students' sense of academic fit.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Tulane Social Psychology Group for their helpful feedback on an earlier draft of this manuscript. We would also like to thank Sara Brinson, William Chinburg, Sarah Kurash, Paula Lopez-Gamundi, Avery Mitchell, Joon Mitchell, Claire Neely, Jamie Rosenberg, and Benjamin Thompson for their assistance with data collection. This research was partially supported by National Science Foundation Grant HRD0936722.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Tulane University, 2007 Stern Hall, New Orleans, LA, 70118, USA

    Patricia N. Gilbert & Laurie T. O’Brien

  2. Department of Psychology, California State University, San Bernardino, USA

    Donna M. Garcia

  3. Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

    David M. Marx

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  1. Patricia N. Gilbert
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  2. Laurie T. O’Brien
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  3. Donna M. Garcia
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  4. David M. Marx
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Correspondence to Patricia N. Gilbert.

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Table 5 Go/No-Go Association Task (GNAT) Stimuli Words
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Gilbert, P.N., O’Brien, L.T., Garcia, D.M. et al. Not the Sum of Its Parts: Decomposing Implicit Academic Stereotypes to Understand Sense of Fit in Math and English. Sex Roles 72, 25–39 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0428-y

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