Role Models and Beliefs about Ability

Female role models can play an important role in attracting girls into STEM. However, since fewer women make it into these fields, girls might perceive that only exceptionally talented women can succeed. Exceptional role models might be less effective in helping girls realize their potential and the potential attainability of these career options. We plan to explore these issues by exposing students to information about STEM role models of the same and different gender and varying information about these role models' previous academic performance. The potential existence of these effects might have important implications for the types of role models we put forth.This study will explore what role model attributes makes them more effective

The Role of Advice in Shaping Academic Choices

Although women are now more likely to attend college than men, women continue to be much less likely to study STEM fields. Even within STEM, women tend to stay within a narrow range of subjects, such as biology. As a result, some of the most desirable and best paying jobs remain out of the reach of many women. This project will look at the role of the advice that students receive in high school in perpetuating the STEM gender disparity. For example, if a female student states that she is interested in environmental policy and climate change, do her teachers or guidance counsellor tend to steer her toward political science or environmental science over environmental engineering? We will also look at advice regarding which high school courses to take. While we do not take a stand on what any student "should" choose, it is important to understand how students come to make these decisions. If students who are uncertain or indifferent between options are steered toward a gender-stereotypical field, simple information interventions may help to close these gaps

Gender differences in recognition for group work

Published online December 10, 2020We study whether gender influences credit attribution for group work using observational data and two experiments. We use data from academic economists to test whether coauthorship matters differently for tenure for men and women. We find that, conditional on quality and other observables, men are tenured similarly regardless of whether they coauthor or solo author. Women, however, are less likely to receive tenure the more they coauthor. We then conduct two experiments that demonstrate that biases in credit attribution in settings without confounds exist. Taken together, our results are best explained by gender and stereotypes influencing credit attribution for group work

Gender Differences in Recognition for Group Work

We study whether gender influences credit attribution for group work using observational data and two experiments. We use data from academic economists to test whether coauthorship matters differently for tenure for men and women. We find that, conditional on quality and other observables, men are tenured similarly regardless of whether they coauthor or solo author. Women, however, are less likely to receive tenure the more they coauthor. We then conduct two experiments that demonstrate that biases in credit attribution in settings without confounds exist. Taken together, our results are best explained by gender and stereotypes influencing credit attribution for group work