GSE/RES: Attributional Gender Bias: Investigating Teachers' Explanations for Girls' vs. Boys' Performance in Math

University Of Texas At El Paso, El Paso TX

Investigators

Abstract

This research seeks to investigate how a specific yet pervasive gender bias can be reduced among middle school math teachers by addressing their theories about intelligence. This attributional gender bias involves the tendency to generate different attributions (explanations) for female versus male students' performance in math: boys' successes in math are attributed to ability, while girls' successes are attributed to effort; but, boys' failures in math are attributed to a lack of effort and girls' failures to a lack of ability (Fennema et al., 1990). The proposed research will test whether inducing an incremental (effort-based, malleable) theory of intelligence--as opposed to an entity (ability-based, fixed) theory--can reduce this bias among math teachers. If teachers view intelligence as malleable rather than fixed, then they should perceive both girls and boys as having the propensity to succeed in math. The attributional gender bias should be difficult to maintain when ascribing to an incremental theory of intelligence. The project consists of a pilot study followed by the main study with three data collection points. The pilot study will be conducted to methodically develop stimuli to induce an incremental theory of intelligence and to refine the dependent measure for assessing attributional gender bias. The main study will be conducted to test the following hypothesis: participants in an experimental group exposed to incremental theory stimuli will engage in less attributional gender bias (1) relative to control group participants, who will not be exposed to the stimuli, and (2) at three points following exposure to the stimuli. Participants will complete assessments before and immediately after exposure to stimuli and during each of two subsequent semesters, in order to determine the duration of the hypothesized effects. This will allow investigation of whether the manipulation continues to impact teachers as they confront new and existing relationships with students. Intellectual merit This research project is an effort to apply social-psychological research on attribution and intelligence theories to the issue of barriers to girls' learning and participation in STEM. Given the pervasiveness of the attributional gender bias documented by previous research, it is important to investigate what conditions can produce attenuation of the bias. Middle school teachers interact with large numbers of students who are at a critical transition period in their academic and personal lives. As a potential source of influence in girls' attitudes and responses to STEM, teachers create interpersonal dynamics and classroom conditions that may inhibit involvement with math and science, likely without consciousness of the psychological processes that guide their behaviors. Previous research suggests that an incremental theory of intelligence is associated with positive academic outcomes. If an incremental theory of intelligence can reduce attributional gender bias by broadening individuals' conceptions of intelligence and (by association) math performance, then this finding will expand our knowledge of what conditions facilitate girls' learning and interest in STEM. Broader Impacts The experimental design of the proposed research is such that it can be replicated by other researchers concerned with how social-psychological processes influence the adults who construct STEM educational environments for girls. Depending on the outcomes of this research, the project may instigate further research in the scientific community on the link between teachers' and students' gender attributions, conceptions of ability and performance, and teacher-student dynamics in relation to gender. Furthermore, because this research will be undertaken in a predominantly Latino working-class community, it would indicate whether previous findings on attributional bias and intelligence theories generalize to the proposed population. This project will be an initial step in approaching the issue of how girls' performance in STEM is perceived against the backdrop of ethnicity, culture, and socioeconomic status.