A Pyramidal Model of Sex Stereotyping: Examining Patterns of Associations in the Context of Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Fields

Abstract

Science fields have a dearth of female participants. Previous research has provided evidence that many factors contribute to this phenomenon, including negative stereotypes of women’s abilities in STEM and women’s lowered identification with STEM fields. This dissertation aimed to demonstrate how stereotyping and identity are part of a pattern of cognitive associations. In particular, the research considers the role of gendered traits (i.e., agentic and communal traits). The goal of Study 1 was to identify how gendered traits correspond to traits necessary in science fields. Results demonstrated that agentic traits are viewed as more necessary for success in science fields. Next, Study 2 aimed to demonstrate that the agency-science association is related to gender-science stereotyping and women’s identification with science by experimentally manipulating the agency-science association. Results revealed that male and female students who are exposed to the agentic-science association have a stronger relationship between their gender-science stereotyping and science identity than those exposed to a communal-science association. Study 3 took an individual-differences perspective to test whether a meaningful pattern of associations involving the self, sex, traits (agentic & communal), and science emerges. This model is referred to as the pyramidal model of sex stereotyping, and it delineates a pattern of associations that may contribute to the underrepresentation of women in science. Results revealed that people do hold cognitively consistent patterns, particularly those who are in stereotypical fields for their gender (e.g., men in STEM and women in humanities), and that these patterns predict behavioral choices and career intentions. Finally, Study 4 tested an intervention based on the pyramidal model by experimentally manipulating the association between gendered traits and science fields, revealing that increasing communal-science associations increases the degree to which women in STEM form cognitively consistent patterns of associations. Together, these four studies provide evidence for the role of gendered traits in the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields, while offering a theoretical contribution by emphasizing the importance of examining patterns of associations rather than isolated stereotypes. Future research should consider these patterns when designing interventions to increase women’s participation in science fields.