By: Inas Essa
"Office work is better for women and fieldwork suits men better..." Some of these stereotypes have been rooted in children’s minds from a very young age, leading boys to think they should have or acquire certain traits because lacking them could be problematic. On the other hand, girls are raised with certain ideas about their abilities and what suits them, regardless of what they truly love or have.
Although stereotyping may lead children to go with the flow, it may badly affect their social and working life. This stereotyping is not only associated with certain careers, it can also be attributed to certain traits, a new study led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) in collaboration with New York University has shown.
Is "Brilliance" A Male Notion?
389 Chinese-Singaporean parents and 342 of their children aged 8 to 12 years old participated in the study that aimed at measuring the extent to which parents and their children associate “brilliance” with men. Another study target was investigating the relationship between parents and their children's views.
While results of previous research on gender stereotypes have indicated how the idea of giftedness as a male trait can emerge around the age of six, the stereotyping level change has not been tested throughout childhood. The word "brilliance" was defined in the study as an exceptional level of intellectual ability. The results indicated that children are as likely to perceive brilliance as a male trait as their parents are, and this belief strengthens as they grow up to the age of twelve. Additionally, the level of this belief has grown stronger among those children whose parents held the same view.
Related: The Relation between Math Education and Cognitive Development
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Investigating the "Brilliance Equals Men" Stereotype
Lead author of the study, Associate Professor Setoh Peipei from NTU Singapore's School of Social Sciences, said the Singapore-based study is the first to identify that the tendency to associate brilliance with men strengthens through primary school years, till the age of 13. She adds that these stereotypical views that boys are smarter than girls lead the latter to doubt their abilities and limit their ideas about their interests and what they can achieve in life.
That highlights how important including parents in policies and school programs is to defend against this gender stereotyping at a young age. More importantly, this stereotyping does not only affect doubting girls' abilities; parents also use different explanation styles for daughters and sons. That draws attention to the need to design programs to train parents and teachers to be aware of balancing their behavior during interactions with children, especially with girls. That would also help bridge the gap in STEM sectors throughout school years and while pursuing a career in them.
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