Women’s career confidence in a fixed, sexist STEM environment

Abstract Background Innovation in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields in the U.S. is threatened by a lack of diversity. Social identity threat research finds messages in the academic environment devalue women and underrepresented groups in STEM, creating a chilly and hostile environment. Research has focused on the mechanisms that contribute to STEM engagement and interest at the K-12 and undergraduate level, but the mechanisms that predict sustained engagement at the graduate level have not been studied. Results In a longitudinal study of doctoral students in STEM disciplines, we demonstrate that students’ beliefs that their STEM colleagues believe intelligence is a fixed (vs. malleable) trait undermine women’s engagement in STEM. Specifically, perceiving a fixed ability environment predicts greater perceptions of sexism, which erode women’s self-efficacy and sense of belongingness and lead women to consider dropping out of their STEM career. Conclusion These findings identify one potential pathway by which women leave their STEM fields, perpetuating gender disparities in STEM.

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Decoding the Dynamics of Social Identity Threat in the Workplace: A Within-Person Analysis of Women’s and Men’s Interactions in STEM

Social Psychological and Personality Science ◽

10.1177/1948550618772582 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 542-552 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

William Hall ◽

Toni Schmader ◽

Audrey Aday ◽

Elizabeth Croft

Keyword(s):

Social Identity ◽

Gender Bias ◽

Identity Threat ◽

Men And Women ◽

Daily Experience ◽

Daily Experiences ◽

Science Technology ◽

Two Samples ◽

Social Identity Threat ◽

Status Differences

The present research examined whether women’s daily experience of social identity threat in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) settings is triggered by a lack of acceptance during workplace conversations with male colleagues that then predicts daily experiences of burnout. To test these hypotheses, participants from two samples ( N = 389) rated their daily interactions with colleagues across 2 weeks. Results revealed that (1) women reported greater daily experiences of social identity threat on days when their work conversations with men cued a lack of acceptance, (2) these daily fluctuations of social identity threat predicted feelings of mental burnout, and (3) these effects were not found among men or for nonwork-relevant conversations. Additional analyses showed that these results were not driven by highly hostile workplace conversations between men and women, nor were they accounted for by individual differences in women’s sensitivity to perceiving gender bias, status differences, or by women being explicitly undermined by colleagues.

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Processing of Social Identity Threats

Social Psychology ◽

10.1027/1864-9335/a000133 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 44 (6) ◽

pp. 361-372 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Natascha de Hoog

Keyword(s):

Social Identity ◽

Social Identification ◽

Negative Group ◽

Identity Threat ◽

Neutral Group ◽

Threat Perceptions ◽

Social Identity Threat ◽

Identity Threats ◽

Group Information ◽

Source Study

The underlying process of reactions to social identity threat was examined from a defense motivation perspective. Two studies measured respondents’ social identification, after which they read threatening group information. Study 1 compared positive and negative group information, attributed to an ingroup or outgroup source. Study 2 compared negative and neutral group information to general negative information. It was expected that negative group information would induce defense motivation, which reveals itself in biased information processing and in turn affects the evaluation of the information. High identifiers should pay more attention to, have higher threat perceptions of, more defensive thoughts of, and more negative evaluations of negative group information than positive or neutral group information. Findings generally supported these predictions.

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Managing a Social Identity Threat

Social Psychology ◽

10.1027/1864-9335/a000079 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 43 (1) ◽

pp. 41-46 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Stefano Pagliaro ◽

Francesca Romana Alparone ◽

Maria Giuseppina Pacilli ◽

Angelica Mucchi-Faina

Keyword(s):

Social Identity ◽

Identity Threat ◽

Status Group ◽

Social Identity Threat ◽

Social Creativity ◽

Threatening Situation

We examined how members of a low status group react to a social identity threat. We propose that expressing an ambivalent evaluation toward the ingroup may represent a way to manage such a threatening situation. For this study, 131 undergraduates’ identification with Italians was assessed. Participants were divided into groups, according to a situational identity threat (high vs. low). In line with hypotheses, low identifiers expressed more ambivalence toward the ingroup in the high (vs. low) threat condition. The reversed pattern emerged for high identifiers. This effect was mediated by the perception of intragroup variability, a well-known social creativity strategy. Results confirmed our interpretation of ambivalence as a form of social creativity, and are discussed in terms of social identity concerns.

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