Strategy 4:
Support girls in pushing against existing stereotypes and the need to conform to gender roles. Helping girls make connections between their unique cultural and social backgrounds and STEM disciplines will negate potential stereotype barriers. (Allen et al., 2017; Carli et al., 2016; Cheryan et al, 2015; Robnett, 2016; Allen et al., 2017; Carlone et al., 2015; Sammet et al., 2016, Scott et al., 2014; Tan et al., 2013; Dasgupta et al., 2014; Verdin et al., 2016; Civil, 2016; Boucher et al., 2017) |
Tips
- Provide examples of what STEM looks like for professionals. Help girls understand the stereotypical STEM professional (working alone on a computer or in a lab) is not what many people experience in their own work lives.
- Incorporate materials, images, and content that counter stereotypes about who does STEM. For example, display posters of diverse women and highlight those whose work benefits the community.
- Provide opportunities for girls to work together, support each other, and connect with STEM-minded peers.
- Point out that doing STEM and being a STEM person does not contradict how girls see themselves or their aspirations for the future.
We all come to our learning experiences with background knowledge shaped by our unique lives, our family's, and the broader culture in which we live.
For many of us, that background knowledge includes stereotypes about the type of people that succeed in STEM/CTE careers. A stereotype is a false representation of a group of people that misrepresents them with limited, exaggerated or patently false assumptions.
If teachers and students actively confront the stereotypes about STEM/CTE workers students' are more likely to create new alternative schema for people who work in this field.
Actively confronting stereotypes helps teachers to improve the outcomes of girls and students from underrepresented populations in their STEM and CTE classes.
Cultural change is necessary before girls will be as likely to see the prospects for themselves in science, technical, engineering, computer science, math or physics careers as boys. Helping girls AND boys confront stereotypes about the gendered nature of work in fields that are currently predominantly male can improve the likelihood that these will change over time.
For many of us, that background knowledge includes stereotypes about the type of people that succeed in STEM/CTE careers. A stereotype is a false representation of a group of people that misrepresents them with limited, exaggerated or patently false assumptions.
If teachers and students actively confront the stereotypes about STEM/CTE workers students' are more likely to create new alternative schema for people who work in this field.
Actively confronting stereotypes helps teachers to improve the outcomes of girls and students from underrepresented populations in their STEM and CTE classes.
Cultural change is necessary before girls will be as likely to see the prospects for themselves in science, technical, engineering, computer science, math or physics careers as boys. Helping girls AND boys confront stereotypes about the gendered nature of work in fields that are currently predominantly male can improve the likelihood that these will change over time.
Tools for Challenging Stereotypes
Role Models
One very accessible and absolutely critical way for teachers to challenge STEM/CTE stereotypes is through the use of Role Models. Bringing in people who are studying or working in STEM/CTE fields that represent the diversity of students in your class population will help to unmask the stereotypes students may have created around these fields. Unpack Stereotypes Teachers can take some time to learn about how underrepresented groups in some STEM/CTE fields have been intentionally excluded from participation. Rather than glossing over the issues, address them head on. Don't pretend everything is fine. Share the challenges and strategies successful participants have used to beat the stereotypes and the odds. This can and should include what white men, and women, have done to support those who are marginalized in the field. Teach the Success Stories Through collaboration with teachers in English or Social Studies students might be afforded opportunities to read about the many successes of African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos and women of all backgrounds in STEM/CTE fields. |
PLC Activities
- Actively solicit student questions and ideas around how the workforce in STEM and CTE has become so disproportionately white and male. Challenge students to consider evidence that supports the stereotype (why things are harder for women and for men from underrepresented demographic groups) and evidence that challenges it. You might ask, for instance: If the first computer program was written by a woman, and the very word "computer" originally meant "a woman who does math for a living," how did computer science become so dominated by men?
- Ensure students learn and retain discrepant stories that challenge STEM and CTE stereotypes.
Additional Resources
Addressing a "Threat in the Air": How Stereotypes Affect Our Students and What We Can Do About It
https://cte.rice.edu/blogarchive/2016/5/19/addressing-stereotype-threat-creating-an-inclusive-environment-in-the-college-classroom
Great resources for educators related to gender, caring and empathy, bias, etc.
https://mcc.gse.harvard.edu/resources-for-educators
Article by Cheryan, et.al is interesting and easy to read, and great for discussion: “Cultural stereotypes as gatekeepers: increasing girls’ interest in computer science and engineering by diversifying stereotypes”
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00049/full
3 Ways K-12 Teachers Can Encourage Girls to Love STEM
https://onlinedegrees.sandiego.edu/girls-in-stem-how-teachers-can-help-break-stereotype/
It’s Not Me, It’s You – The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/opinion/sunday/intelligence-and-the-stereotype-threat.html?_r=1
Chatman et al. (2008) Girls in Science: A Framework for Action. NSTA Press Book.
Encourage Girls to identify and challenge STEM stereotypes
Holmes, N.G., Wieman, C.E., and Bonn, D.A. (2015, September 8). Teaching critical thinking. PNAS 112(36) 11199-11204.
Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2007). Consequential validity: Using assessment to drive instruction. White paper. Foundation for Critical Thinking.
Science Education Research Center (SERC). Developing quantitative reasoning. Pedagogy in Action. Carleton College. Open educational resources.
https://cte.rice.edu/blogarchive/2016/5/19/addressing-stereotype-threat-creating-an-inclusive-environment-in-the-college-classroom
Great resources for educators related to gender, caring and empathy, bias, etc.
https://mcc.gse.harvard.edu/resources-for-educators
Article by Cheryan, et.al is interesting and easy to read, and great for discussion: “Cultural stereotypes as gatekeepers: increasing girls’ interest in computer science and engineering by diversifying stereotypes”
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00049/full
3 Ways K-12 Teachers Can Encourage Girls to Love STEM
https://onlinedegrees.sandiego.edu/girls-in-stem-how-teachers-can-help-break-stereotype/
It’s Not Me, It’s You – The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/opinion/sunday/intelligence-and-the-stereotype-threat.html?_r=1
Chatman et al. (2008) Girls in Science: A Framework for Action. NSTA Press Book.
Encourage Girls to identify and challenge STEM stereotypes
Holmes, N.G., Wieman, C.E., and Bonn, D.A. (2015, September 8). Teaching critical thinking. PNAS 112(36) 11199-11204.
Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2007). Consequential validity: Using assessment to drive instruction. White paper. Foundation for Critical Thinking.
Science Education Research Center (SERC). Developing quantitative reasoning. Pedagogy in Action. Carleton College. Open educational resources.