Professional Documents
Culture Documents
English 138T
March 23, 2016
Audience: Departments of neuroscience at colleges
Figure
The research
1:
team at
Northwestern
concluded that the
facultys preferences
were based on
gender biases
reinforced by
cultural stereotypes.
The researchers
came up with a couple of questions that would help explain their
findings and how they might apply to other parts of the career
pathways. Do negative experiences at the postdoctoral level
determine womens decisions about staying in the field? Do women
receive less encouragement from faculty, undermining their confidence
and ambition ("Women in Neuroscience)?
A study done at Wayne State University addressed some of these
questions. The researchers examined more than 300 letters of
recommendation for a faculty position at a medical school looking for
signs of gender bias. In subtle ways, the letters written for the women
were inadequate to what the letters for men had. Women were
described as thoughtful and considerate, while the men were
described as intelligent and productive. The letters for women
contained more negative and irrelevant language and faint praise than
letters written for men. For example applicants titles, such as clinical
assistant professor was used more for men, while women had the titles
such as lady physician ("Women in Neuroscience").
There is a stereotype held that boys possess more ability in STEM
than girls, which has been found to impact a childs performance.
Several studies have found that children are socialized differently
regarding mathematics and science based on their gender. Boys
receive more encouragement in math and science from their parents
and teachers. Mothers even overestimate boys abilities compared to
girls. When discussing models in an exhibit at a science museum,
parents have been found to explain a scientific concept three times
more to boys than girls (Chang, Bridging the Gender Gap:
Encouraging Girls in STEM Starts at Home").
Catherine Sandhofer and Christia Brown conducted a study of
everyday speech between mothers and their toddlers (preschool-aged
children with an average age 22 months). Sandhofers and Browns
findings were surprising, even at this young age mothers spoke to boys
about three times more than girls about numbers and quantities. For
example, phrases like he has two eyes and How many feet do you
have? appeared in mother son conversations three times more often
than in mother daughter conversations. The significant amount of
confidence that boys show in elementary school could be influenced by
Works Cited
Beede, David N., Tiffany A. Julian, David Langdon, George Mckittrick,
Beethika Khan, and Mark E. Doms. "Women in STEM: A Gender
Gap to Innovation." SSRN Electronic Journal SSRN Journal (n.d.):
n. pag.Women in STEM:A Gender Gap to Innovation. U.S.
Department of Commerce, Aug. 2011. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.
"Equal Pay for Equal Work: Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act." American
Civil Liberties Union. American Civil Liberties Union, n.d. Web. 29
Mar. 2016.