gender differences in implicit attitudes toward mathematics and science
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Gender Differences in Implicit Attitudes toward Mathematics and Science. Brian A. Nosek Mahzarin R. Banaji Yale University Anthony G. Greenwald University of Washington. Gender differences in participation in mathematics. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Gender Differences in Implicit Attitudes toward Mathematics and Science
Brian A. Nosek
Mahzarin R. Banaji
Yale University
Anthony G. Greenwald
University of Washington
Gender differences in participation in mathematics
As level of education increases female participation in math and science declines
0
20
40
60
80
high school undergraduate graduate work
Percentage of Participants
males females
Differential gender participation in the
sciences
Percentage of Females
Undergraduate Doctorate Math-intensive Sciences
physical sciences 34 23math/computer sciences 35 16engineering 16 9
Math-nonintensive Sciences psychology 73 61social sciences 48 37biological sciences 49 40
Gender differences in performance
Hyde et al., 1990elementary school -.06high school .29college .32
gifted children .41SAT math .40
Feingold, 1988 Males account for as much as 96%of perfect or near perfect SATmath scores
Explicit vs. Implicit
intentional controlled direct
measurement self-report subject to
presentational biases
unintentional automatic indirect
measurement no self-report
needed not subject to
presentational biases
Explicit Attitudes Implicit Attitudes
600
700
800
900
Males Females
Math+Pleasant Math+Unpleasant
Relative Attitude Index = (Math/unpleasant) - (Math/pleasant)
RAI = (math+unpleasant) - (math+pleasant)
= 750ms - 850ms
= -100ms
Do females hold more negative attitudes toward mathematics than males at an
implicit level?
Math ArtsAlgebra PoetryEquations LiteratureNewton Shakespeare
Pleasant Unpleasantheaven corpselove torturelaughter despise
Attitudes Toward Mathematics
d = 1.03
-193
-97
-200
-150
-100
-50
0
50
RAI in ms.
Females Males
Do females hold more negative attitudes toward science than males at an implicit
level?
Science ArtsPhysics PoetryNASA LiteratureEinstein Shakespeare
Pleasant Unpleasantheaven corpselove torturelaughter despise
-210
-102
-250
-200
-150
-100
-50
0
50
RAI in ms.
Females Males
Attitudes Toward Science
d = .94
Relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes
Correlation between implicit and explicit attitudes toward mathematics:
.530***
Implicit attitudes, explicit attitudes and performance
SATmath - SATverbal
Relative SAT Performance
Measure Males Females
Explicit Attitudestoward Math
.404*** .413***
Implicit Attitudestoward Math
.415*** .243**
Attitudes toward mathematics by major and gender
-172a
-98b-100b
-42c
-200
-150
-100
-50
0
Females Males
Relative Attitude Index (ms)
NonScience Science NonScience Science
Comparing Implicit and Explicit Attitudes by Gender
and Major
-.60
-.40
-.20
.00
.20
.40
.60
.80
nonsciencefemales
nonsciencemales
sciencefemales
sciencemales
latency in std. units
Implicit attitudes toward math Explicit attitudes toward math
Primary findings
Gender differences in attitudes toward math can be revealed measuring outside of conscious control
Implicit and explicit attitudes about math were related
Implicit and explicit measures were related to performance
Female science majors’ implicit and explicit attitudes toward math were dissociated