Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos—men dominate the tech industry. in 2021 men accounted for 75% of employed computer scientists and 84% of engineers in the US.
And that is cause for concern. Consider the misuse of artificial intelligence tools for videos: full-blown deepfake pornography aimed at women and – seriously – some teenage girls. Would you trust a team of male software engineers to make responsible and informed decisions about such tools? Although software engineers are a small part of the world’s population, the products they make can have a huge impact on the rest of society.
Compared to men, women generally express more ethical and privacy concerns About AI and place a higher priority about safety and responsibility. The tech industry needs more diverse approaches to protect against the real harm AI technologies can bring to our world.
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However, my recent research as a psychologist and educational researcher reveals a major obstacle to achieving a more representative workforce: technology stereotypes that appear very early in children’s development. In research published this month, my colleagues and I observed children as young as six see that girls are worse than boys in computer science and engineering.
We also found that gender stereotypes are not the same in all STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). In fact, math stereotypes are less gendered than many researchers have often assumed. This nuance helps find new ways to expand participation in STEM fields. Most research to date has focused on the stereotype that girls are ‘bad at math’. But my colleagues American Institutes for Research and University of Cambridge and I noticed mixed evidence as to whether children actually hold this belief. Some studies show that children they have been absorbed the stereotype that girls are worse than boys in mathematics, but other studies have found precise the opposite.
We embarked on a five-year expedition to synthesize over four decades of past research on children’s gender stereotypes of STEM skills. We collected a massive dataset of more than 145,000 children in 33 nations whose stereotypes were measured in different ways. For example, a study might ask children, “Are girls or boys better at computer coding?”
A clear pattern emerged: technology stereotypes are much more biased than math stereotypes. In other words, children are more likely to view computer and engineering skills as “for boys” than math skills.
And this divergence between STEM fields starts early. For example, 52% of six-year-olds think boys are better at engineering, and 10% think girls are better, an early male bias of 42 percentage points. Computing also shows a male bias at age six, although to a lesser extent. But for maths, the share of six-year-olds who say boys are better (28%) is the same (32%) as girls (32%). (The rest of the children did not see one group as better than the other.) These differences reflect related patterns among adults. For example, 40% of mathematicians but only 16% of US engineers. they are women. However, it is surprising that children as young as six have such nuanced beliefs about different STEM fields. Do even six-year-olds know what “engineers” are?
In a broader context, the findings of mathematics are less surprising. the girls get better grades in math than boys, for example. Furthermore, studies have found that children the view success in school as “for girls” in general. These contextual characteristics may reduce male bias toward mathematics, especially when it is perceived as a school subject.
Children’s technology stereotypes, on the other hand, come from signs outside the classroom, for example representations male computer nerds in movies, news, and TV shows. Of course, young children can also misperceive what computer scientists and engineers do. For example, many children who speak English assume that engineers fix car engines because “engineer” has the word “engine”. Children may transfer masculine stereotypes about auto mechanics to engineers.
As children, girls are somewhat insulated from these masculine stereotypes. This is due to a phenomenon called developmental psychologists ingroup bias. Have you ever heard girls sing “Girls rule, boys drool”? Children between the ages of five and seven choose their gender. An example is math: generally, boys favor boys and girls favor girls when asked who does well in that subject during childhood.
This in-group bias partially shields younger girls from technology stereotypes. For example, among six-year-old girls, 34% say that girls are better at IT, while only 20% of boys say that they show a female tendency.
But this pattern changes rapidly with age, as cultural stereotypes replace in-group bias. Between the ages of eight and 10, the number of girls who say boys are better at IT starts to outnumber those who say the opposite. This male bias increases even more in middle and high school. These drastic changes may limit girls’ future aspirations for high-demand technology fields such as AI.
In contrast, boys of all ages outperform boys in all STEM fields, on average. Despite the relatively stable trend in STEM, boys are quick to learn the stereotypes they can hold them when reading and writing. By their senior year of high school, a clear majority of boys (72%) believe that girls have better verbal skills, while only a small minority (10%) believe that boys have better verbal skills.
Our findings collectively point to the need for concrete action. Initiatives for “girls in math” or “girls in STEM” may help to address the most entrenched stereotypes. Instead, these efforts require a strategic focus on male-biased areas such as technology.
The tech gender gap isn’t surprising. in 1984 they were women 37 percent of computer science college graduates, the most compared to any other point in time. However, today, that figure is running about 20 percent. Cultural changes such as the commercialization of computers to the boyscan have encouraged girls and women off the field If it was a cultural change, why can’t we turn back the clock in that particular aspect?
To combat technological stereotypes, we need a national commitment to expand quality engagement with these fields in early childhood and elementary education. Research shows positive early experiences programming and robotics it can spark girls’ curiosity and interests before stereotypes are established and girls are pushed away. Such as free apps ScratchJr allow children between the ages of five and seven learn the basics of coding programming interactive stories and games, for example. But a lot more research is needed to ensure that initial approaches will reduce gender gaps.
Early with positive exposure, girls could bend less stereotypes to guide their future decisions, for example, when choosing high school electives. In other words, early engagement in technology sets the stage for success later grades and career stages. These steps to expand participation in STEM will benefit technology and society. Consider Rebecca PortnoffThorn is a non-profit data science leader who uses his IT expertise to develop AI tools and safety guidelines by design which aim to stop the creation and dissemination of child sexual abuse images. AI technologies have enormous potential to transform society. Having diverse voices in technology will help harness that power for social good.
Are you a scientist specializing in neuroscience, cognitive science or psychology? And have you read any peer reviews recently that you’d like to write for Mind Matters? Please submit suggestions here American scientific‘s Mind Matters editor at Daisy Yuhas dyuhas@sciam.com.
This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
