Do Gender Differences in Perceived Prototypical Computer Scientists and Engineers Contribute to Gender Gaps in Computer Science and Engineering?

Autor: Ehrlinger J; 1Department of Psychology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99163 USA., Plant EA; 2Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL USA., Hartwig MK; 1Department of Psychology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99163 USA., Vossen JJ; 1Department of Psychology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99163 USA., Columb CJ; 3Department of Psychology, Prairie View A & M University, Prairie View, TX USA., Brewer LE; 4Department of Psychology, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Sex roles [Sex Roles] 2018; Vol. 78 (1), pp. 40-51. Date of Electronic Publication: 2017 Apr 07.
DOI: 10.1007/s11199-017-0763-x
Abstrakt: Women are vastly underrepresented in the fields of computer science and engineering (CS&E). We examined whether women might view the intellectual characteristics of prototypical individuals in CS&E in more stereotype-consistent ways than men might and, consequently, show less interest in CS&E. We asked 269 U.S. college students (187, 69.5% women) to describe the prototypical computer scientist (Study 1) or engineer (Study 2) through open-ended descriptions as well as through a set of trait ratings. Participants also rated themselves on the same set of traits and rated their similarity to the prototype. Finally, participants in both studies were asked to describe their likelihood of pursuing future college courses and careers in computer science (Study 1) or engineering (Study 2). Across both studies, we found that women offered more stereotype-consistent ratings than did men of the intellectual characteristics of prototypes in CS (Study 1) and engineering (Study 2). Women also perceived themselves as less similar to the prototype than men did. Further, the observed gender differences in prototype perceptions mediated the tendency for women to report lower interest in CS&E fields relative to men. Our work highlights the importance of prototype perceptions for understanding the gender gap in CS&E and suggests avenues for interventions that may increase women's representation in these vital fields.
Competing Interests: Compliance with Ethical StandardsThe research presented in this manuscript was conducted in accord with APA standards for research involving human participants and with the approval of the institutional review boards at the two universities at which data were collected. All participants gave informed consent prior to their participation. This manuscript is original and not previously published. We have no known conflicts of interest to disclose.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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