Gender Bias & What Can We Do Today?

Pamela Androffpamela.androff@gmail.com

Gender Bias & What Can We Do Today?

Pamela Androffpamela.androff@gmail.com

April 15, 2011

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OutlineOutline

• My Background• Generational Fast Facts• Girls in STEM• Our Current Situation• Issues Women Face in STEM:

– Beliefs about intelligence– Stereotypes– Self-Assessment– Spatial Skills– Implicit Bias

• Conclusion and Action Items

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My BackgroundMy Background

• Mechanical Engineer with Mitsubishi Electric– Application Support on HVAC Equipment– Training to Contractors, Distributors, and Sales Managers– SWE member since 2004– BSME, UCF, 2008

• Prior to Mitsubishi:– Design Engineer at Newcomb & Boyd– Engineering Intern in Washington DC– Engineering Intern at Universal Studios Orlando

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Generational Fast FactsGenerational Fast Facts

Millennials• Key Characteristics

– Tech-native, media-immersed, praised and raised for success, good for me = good for everybody sense of entitlement, socially and environmentally conscious, flow between family/work/school/play

• Values– Diversity, empowerment, belonging, connectivity,

identity, creativity, experience, sharing

• Greatest Hopes– Being (sorta) rich, being (totally) happy, being at the

center of it all, being respected, making a difference

Gen We• Note: This generation is still very young (still being born

• Key Characteristics– Tech-native, media-savvy, content creators, spiritual,

pan-cultural, diversity as reality

• Values– Creativity, individualism, freedom, relationship,

authenticity, connectivity, personalization, trust, exploration, inclusiveness

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Girls and STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and MathGirls and STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

• We lose girls somewhere…..– In 4th grade about equal amounts express interest in STEM

subjects– By 8th grade boys express more…..– Where did all the girls go?

• It only takes a seed to plant a garden. Your insight may inspire a girl to pursue more classes in the area of science, math and engineering.

• AAUW report “Why So Few?” at http://www.aauw.org/learn/research/whysofew.cfm

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Our Current SituationOur Current Situation

30 years ago, 13 boys for 1 girl with 700 on Math SAT.

Now 3:1(Brody & Mills, 2005)

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Our Current SituationOur Current Situation

Girls do better than boys in HS!

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Our Current SituationOur Current Situation

Yet girls don’t do as well on AP tests as boys

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Our Current SituationOur Current Situation

There were more women in CS 30 years ago than now

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Our Current SituationOur Current Situation

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Our Current SituationOur Current Situation

Women are almost always below “critical mass”

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Our Current SituationOur Current Situation

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Our Current SituationOur Current Situation

“Pipeline” issue

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Beliefs about IntelligenceBeliefs about Intelligence

• Professor of Psychology, Stanford• Fixed mindset vs. growth• In Asian cultures, the basis of success is generally attributed more to effort and

less to inherent ability (Stevenson & Stigler, 1992)

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Beliefs about IntelligenceBeliefs about Intelligence

• WHAT TO DO:– Teach children that intellectual skills can be acquired– Praise children for effort– Highlight the struggle

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StereotypesStereotypes

• Professor of developmental, social and educational psychology, NYU• Two stereotypes:

– Girls are not as good as boys in math– Scientific work is better suited to boys and men

• Stereotype threat• Discrepancy b/w higher grades and lower SAT scores

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StereotypesStereotypes

• Threat is induced by having a larger ratio of men to women in a test (Inzlicht & Ben-Zeev, 2000)

• WHAT TO DO:– Encourage students to have a growth mindset– Expose girls to successful role models in math and science– Teach girls about stereotype threat

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Self-assessmentSelf-assessment

• Professor of sociology, Stanford• When male superiority is believed in an area, girls assess their abilities in that

area lower, judge themselves to a higher standard, and express less desire to pursue a career in that area than boys do

• Larry Summers, ex-president of Harvard (2005 comments)• Difficult to convince girls they have scientific ability no matter how well they do• If women hold themselves to a higher standard, fewer women will pursue

STEM than men• Impostor syndrome

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Self-assessmentSelf-assessment

• WHAT TO DO:– Teach girls about impostor syndrome– Ask teachers to make performance standards and expectations clear– Encourage girls to take calculus, physics, chemistry, computer science and

engineering classes whenever possible

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Spatial SkillsSpatial Skills

• Professor of mechanical engineering & engineering mechanics, Michigan Technological University

• MS girls who take spatial visualization class also take more advanced math and science class in HS

• WHAT TO DO:– Emphasize that spatial skills are not innate but developed– Encourage children to play with construction toys, draw, take things apart

and put them back together again, and play games that involve fitting objects into different places

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Implicit BiasImplicit Bias

• Professor of social ethics, Harvard• WHAT TO DO:

– Take the Implicit bias test at https://implicit.harvard.edu– Raise awareness of implicit bias

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Conclusion & Action ItemsConclusion & Action Items

• Spread the word about girls’ and women’s achievements in math and science

• Teach girls that intellectual skills are acquired• Teach girls about stereotype threat, impostor syndrome,

and a growth mindset• Encourage girls to take calculus, physics, chemistry,

computer science, and engineering classes• Expose girls to female role models in STEM fields

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Questions?Questions?

Thank you for your time!