(Science 27 Jan 2017: Vol. 355, Issue 6323, pp. 389-391. DOI: 10.1126/science.aah6524)
Summary
- Between the ages of 5 and 6, boys' perceptions of their own intelligence doesn't change, but girls consider themselves (and other girls and women) less likely to be "very, very smart."
- Girls are less likely at age 6 than at age 5 to pick a woman as the "very, very smart" protagonist of a gender-neutral story. Boys seem to be equally likely to pick a man at ages 5 and 6. Interestingly, at age 5, both boys and girls show around a 75% chance of picking someone matching their gender (men for boys, women for girls) as very smart, demonstrating similarity bias early on in life.
- Girls are less likely at age 6 than at age 5 to describe themselves as enjoying a game described as for "very, very smart" children, while boys show no such loss of interest.
- Boys are less likely at age 6 than 5 to pick men as "very, very nice."
Takeaways
- Societal expectations and gender stereotypes sink in very early in people's lives, and may snowball into the large gender gaps we see in adulthood in many technical fields, which struggle to attract women, and in stereotypically "nurturing" fields, which often struggle to attract men.
- This may underscore the need to highlight a growth mindset – the idea that your basic abilities can be extended through hard work, rather than being fixed and unchangeable – for children starting at an early age .
- Are there ways we can counteract societal gender norms to let kids know that they can become what they wish if they just set their minds to it?
Limitations
- Sample sizes were not very large.
- The vast majority of children were white (78%) and middle class (percentage not given), which mirrored populations in the community where the study was conducted. The authors call for further research on intersectional consequences of stereotypes on children.
