Me Female, Math Male, therefore Math Me

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Me Female, Math Male, therefore Math ? Me

• Brian A. Nosek
• Mahzarin R. Banaji
• Yale University
• Anthony G. Greenwald
• University of Washington

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Gender differences in participation in mathematics

• As level of education increases female
  participation in math and science declines

3
Differential gender participation in the sciences
4
Gender differences in performance
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Males account for as much as 96 of perfect or
near perfect SAT math scores
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Explicit vs. Implicit
Explicit Attitudes
Implicit Attitudes

• unintentional
• automatic
• indirect measurement
• no self-report needed
• not subject to presentational biases

• intentional
• controlled
• direct measurement
• self-report
• subject to presentational biases

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Do females hold more negative attitudes toward
mathematics than males at an implicit level?
Attitudes Toward Mathematics
d 1.03
7
Do females hold more negative attitudes toward
science than males at an implicit level?
Attitudes Toward Science
d .94
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Heiders Balance Theory (1958)Linking Math to
the Self
Females
Me
-

Female
Math
-
Males
Me


Male
Math

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Are males masculine and females feminine?
Feminine
Masculine
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Is mathematics stereotyped as masculine
implicitly?
-

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Do males identify with math more strongly than
females?
-
-


d .59
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Correlations with gender identity
Females
Gender Identity
-.40
.35
-.29
Math Self-Concept
Stereotyping Math
Males
Gender Identity
.32
-.05
.23
Math Self-Concept
Stereotyping Math
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Correlations with performance
Females
SAT Performance
.01
.16
-.29
Math Self-Concept
Stereotyping Math
Males
SAT Performance
.35
.52
.23
Math Self-Concept
Stereotyping Math
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Primary findings

• Gender differences in orientations toward math
  measurable outside of conscious control
• Implicit findings were consistent with Heiders
  balance theory
• For females, gender identity related more
  strongly to implicit beliefs about mathematics
• For males, performance related more strongly with
  implicit beliefs about mathematics