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jake-head-shot.jpgJake Young is a MD/PhD student at Mount Sinai School of Medicine focusing in Neuroscience. He is due to graduate in 2032. He received a BS and a MS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University -- where he spent most of his time drinking heavily and building vegetable catapults instead of learning information that would now be eminently useful. When he is not failing terrifically to perform his sworn duties, he enjoys watching bad movies, ethnic food, and running.

Pure Pedantry is a blog about science -- social sciences and otherwise -- as well as academic and scientific culture. No one can live on science alone, so I also like to dwell on pop culture, periodically explore the humanities, and indulge in other types of geeky goodness.

Jake is joined periodically by two wonderful guest bloggers: Kara Contreary and Kate Seip. See the About Page.

DISCLAIMERS: 1) Jake Young is not a licensed physician (yet). He is merely a medical student. The information published on this site is not intended for use in medical decision making. Please seek advice from a licensed, medical professional before making any health decisions. 2) The opinions expressed are my own or those of my co-bloggers. They do not represent the views of SEED magazine or the educational establishments we currently attend.

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« ScienceBlogs Must Read: Uncertain Principles on Loopholes in Argument | Main | Reminder: Submit to the Synapse »

ScienceBlogs Must Read: Mixing Memory on the Negative Consequences of Stereotypes

Category: Gender
Posted on: October 27, 2006 12:19 PM, by Jake Young

I have argued repeatedly that I don't think biological differences between men and women are sufficient to explain their different in representation in math and science (here, here, and here). Mixing Memory has a very thorough post arguing for the other side of the coin -- how stereotypes can affect negatively affect performance. Definitely read the whole thing, but here is the money quote:

The point of all of this is that several studies have shown that stereotype threat influences women's performance on math tests, and thus is likely responsible for at least part of the observed gender differences in math ability. In fact, given that in most of the studies, gender differences were eliminated when stereotype-threat was absent or reduced, either through indicating that the test does not produce gender differences or producing an external handicap, or in participants for whom stereotypes are not as relevant due to the low importance of gender identity or low levels of social status concern, the role of stereotype-threat in gender differences may be quite large. The fact that Osborne found only a small, though statistically significant effect of anxiety is interesting, but it doesn't speak directly to the role of stereotype-threat, and is overshadowed by the long list of studies that directly demonstrated large effects of stereotype-threat. It would be difficult for innate factors, even those relating to the influence of spatial reasoning ability, to account for much of the data on gender differences in math ability. As of yet, no one has a theory explaining how innate differences account for the fact that gender differences disappear in untimed tests, in numerical problems vs. word problems, and when stereotype threat is alleviated. This doesn't mean that there aren't innate differences, but it does mean that for now, the best evidence we have indicates that social factors play a strong role in gender differences in math, and it would be a mistake to overlook them, particularly in the search for innate differences that cannot explain the data.

Study after study has shown that stereotypes negatively affect women's math scores. If -- as I argued before -- the biological factors are not a sufficient explanation for the difference between men and women in performance, then it would appear from this evidence that negative socialization might be. The only solution to stereotypes is aggressive argument with evidence that they aren't true. Time to start doing some more of that arguing.

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