Saying That Girls Are “Just As Good” As Boys At Maths Can Inadvertently Perpetuate Gender Stereotypes

By Emma Young Though girls and boys do equally well on maths tests, the stereotype that girls aren’t as naturally able at maths — or as likely to be extremely smart — is adopted early; even 6-year-olds in the US endorse it. Of course, these stereotypes harm women in an educational setting and in their professional lives, point out the authors of a new study in Developmental Psychology. So it’s important to understand what gives rise to them. Eleanor Chestnut at Stanford University and her colleagues now report that one common and well-intentioned way of attempting to convey girls’ equality with boys actually backfires: saying that girls are “just as good” as boys at something leads the listener to conclude that boys are naturally better, and girls must work harder to equal them. Earlier work has shown that we use the syntax of a sentence to make inferences about the relative status of objects and social groups. Typically, we view the thing or person that is being compared to as the more typical or superior reference example. So, if you were to read “Molly’s cake is as good as Jessica’s”, you’d be likely to infer that Jessica’s is the exemplar that Molly is striving to equal.  “Girls are just as good at boys at maths” is something that family members, caregivers, teachers and public figures all say to try to promote gender equality, note the researchers. And in 2018, Chestnut and her colleague Ellen M Markman re...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Developmental Educational Gender Source Type: blogs