Gender Differences in Implicit Attitudes toward Mathematics and Science

1
Gender Differences in Implicit Attitudes toward
Mathematics and Science

• 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
5
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

6
Relative Attitude Index
(Math/unpleasant) - (Math/pleasant)
RAI (mathunpleasant) - (mathpleasant)
750ms - 850ms -100ms
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Do females hold more negative attitudes toward
mathematics than males at an implicit level?
Attitudes Toward Mathematics
d 1.03
8
Do females hold more negative attitudes toward
science than males at an implicit level?
Attitudes Toward Science
d .94
9
Relationship between implicit and explicit
attitudes

• Correlation between implicit and explicit
  attitudes toward mathematics
  .530

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Implicit attitudes, explicit attitudes and
performance
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Attitudes toward mathematics by major and gender
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Comparing Implicit and Explicit Attitudes by
Gender and Major
13
Primary findings

• Gender differences in attitudes toward math can
  be revealed measuring outside of conscious
  control
• Implicit and explicit attitudes about math were
  related
• Implicit and explicit measures were related to
  performance
• Female science majors implicit and explicit
  attitudes toward math were dissociated