National differences in gender–science stereotypes predict national sex differences in science and math achievement
Edited by Claude M. Steele, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, and approved April 24, 2009
Abstract
About 70% of more than half a million Implicit Association Tests completed by citizens of 34 countries revealed expected implicit stereotypes associating science with males more than with females. We discovered that nation-level implicit stereotypes predicted nation-level sex differences in 8th-grade science and mathematics achievement. Self-reported stereotypes did not provide additional predictive validity of the achievement gap. We suggest that implicit stereotypes and sex differences in science participation and performance are mutually reinforcing, contributing to the persistent gender gap in science engagement.
Acknowledgments.
This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health Grant R01 MH-68447 and the National Science Foundation grant REC-0634041.
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© 2009.
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Received: October 6, 2008
Published online: June 30, 2009
Published in issue: June 30, 2009
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health Grant R01 MH-68447 and the National Science Foundation grant REC-0634041.
Notes
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/0809921106/DCSupplemental.
Authors
Competing Interests
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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