When she was teaching third grade in Houston, Summer Robinson invited a friend, a female mechanical engineer at Chevron, to visit her classroom. She wanted to introduce students, especially girls, to a STEM practitioner who didn’t conform to the socially awkward stereotype in popular culture.
“She communicates really well, and the kids had so much fun,” Robinson said. “I don’t think they really knew what an engineer was, but they understood that they help build things.”
Such exposure can help schools overcome gender stereotypes that form not long after children start school, according to a new international study from the American Institutes for Research.
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Based on a review of nearly 100 studies from 33 countries, the analysis shows that at age 6, children already consider boys better than girls in computer science and technology. Among girls, such beliefs only become more deeply entrenched over time.
Gender stereotypes regarding computers and technology emerge as early as age 6. But children think that both girls and boys can be good at math. (US Institutes of Research)
Without efforts to address these perceptions, girls could turn away from “fast-growing areas of technology like artificial intelligence,” says David Miller, lead author and senior researcher who started the project five years ago.
The findings, he added, released Monday have “downstream implications for thinking about what electives girls might choose in high school, what majors they might pursue, and later, the workforce.”
Recent data from Code.org, a nonprofit organization that advocates for computer science in K-12 education, shows that girls’ participation in computer science declines as they get older. In the lower grades, girls make up about half of those taking basic computer science courses. But participation drops to 44% in middle school and 33% in high school. Experts see a promising increase in the number of women pursuing STEM fields, but Miller recommended even greater efforts to expose young girls to opportunities in computer science and clear up misconceptions.
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A survey cited in the paper shows that roughly three-quarters of young children think engineers work on engines and fix cars. Only a third said engineers design things.
Just as children show an early preference for boys in specific STEM fields, they also develop stereotypes that favor girls in reading and writing. At age 8, students think girls are more verbally gifted, the study shows.
Julie Flapan, director of the Computer Science Equity Project at the University of California, Los Angeles, sees opportunities to boost boys’ literacy development through their passion for gaming.
“With technology, there is so much story telling in video game creation. It’s not just sitting passively behind a screen, but there’s a lot of creativity, collaboration and problem-solving,” she said. “If we focus on those elements of computing, it’s very appealing to a lot of kids.”
The project has been offering training workshops for teachers for years, and over time the participation of primary and secondary school teachers has increased. About 45% of the teachers who attended workshops last year were primary school teachers.
Nearly half of the teachers who attended workshops last year led by the Computer Science Equity Project at the University of California, Los Angeles, were elementary school teachers. (Computer Science Equity Project)
“Teachers play a big role. School counselors also play a very large role as gatekeepers for who is placed in a computer science class,” Flapan said. Parents often enroll their sons in coding camps or encourage them to join robotics clubs, giving them an edge over their female peers. “Teachers will see that these guys are really excelling in computer science and say, ‘Look, they were just born for it.’ Then a girl comes in and thinks, ‘Well, that doesn’t seem like a place to me.’ ”
However, efforts to expand computer science and engineering opportunities for girls at the elementary level often rely on teachers having extra time and interest in the subject, says Robinson, now a doctoral student at the University of Houston who focuses on gender differences in computing . science. At Sanchez Elementary, the high-poverty school where she previously taught, several girls attended an after-school robotics program organized by a social worker. But it didn’t last long.
“It’s really hard to implement that stuff at the elementary level without teaching because the pressure pulls you in different directions,” Robinson said.
Summer Robinson, a former elementary school teacher at a Title I school in Houston, was looking for ways to introduce her students to STEM careers. (Courtesy of Summer Robinson)
Some previous research suggested that early childhood and elementary school-age children perceived boys as more math-savvy than girls, but Miller’s research showed that children think boys and girls are equally capable of mastering the subject.
The analysis revealed differences in the way children perceive specific areas of science. Students thought boys would do better in physics, while women would be stronger in biology. That’s why Miller believes researchers should focus on the STEM areas where stereotypes are strongest, rather than looking broadly at children’s attitudes toward math and science.
“Computer science, engineering and physics… should instead be the focus of future research on children’s gender stereotypes about STEM skills,” he wrote.
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It’s also important to recognize progress, says Talia Milgrom-Elcott, founder of Beyond 100K, a national network focused on building the STEM education workforce.
For example, in 2019-2021, girls made up at least half of enrollments in Advanced Placement computer science courses at more than 1,100 schools across the country – up from 818 schools the year before. The Code.org report also shows that when girls take the AP computer science exam, they achieve a score of 3 or higher, similar to that of boys, 61% to 65% respectively.
And according to the National Science Foundation, the number of women entering STEM fields has grown 31% over the past decade, compared to 15% for men.
“I want to know if all the deliberate efforts we are making are paying off,” she said.
