Los Angeles, CA (January 8, 2015) Research has revealed that gender biases limit the opportunities for women within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. But just how prevalent are these biases and how are they perceived differently by men and women? A new study out today in Psychology of Women Quarterly examined a well-known space for candid sharing of thoughts - the comments sections of online articles - and found that men are much less likely to agree with scientific evidence of gender bias in STEM than women.
Researchers Corinne Moss-Racusin, Aneta Molenda, and Charlotte Cramer analyzed 831 public comments made on three online news articles (from the New York Times, Discover Magazine Blog, and the IFL Science blog) that reported experimental evidence of gender bias within some areas of scientists. They found that men were more likely to respond negatively to these articles than women. Specifically:
The researchers also studied any sexist remarks made by men and women in the comments:
The authors wrote, "It is critical to understand how people react to evidence of bias in order to implement successful interventions designed to decrease it, particularly given mounting evidence that non-stigmatized group members (i.e., White men) may respond differently than other individuals."
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Find out more by reading the full article, "Can Evidence Impact Attitudes? Public Reactions to Evidence of Gender Bias in STEM Fields." For an embargoed copy of the full text, email camille.gamboa@sagepub.com .
Psychology of Women Quarterly (PWQ) is a feminist, scientific, peer-reviewed journal that publishes empirical research, critical reviews and theoretical articles that advance a field of inquiry, brief reports on timely topics, teaching briefs, and invited book reviews related to the psychology of women and gender.
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Psychology of Women Quarterly