The Tyranny of Statistics - How implicit discrimination mechanisms may perpetuate gender disc
17
The Tyranny of Statistics How implicit discrimination mechanisms may perpetuate gender imbalance in STEM 1 by Andrea Yocom
-
Upload
andrea-yocom -
Category
Technology
-
view
140 -
download
3
Transcript of The Tyranny of Statistics - How implicit discrimination mechanisms may perpetuate gender disc
The Tyranny of Statistics
How implicit discrimination mechanisms may perpetuate
gender imbalance in STEM
1
by Andrea Yocom
Perspective
2photo by Adam Goering
Fraction of STEM bachelor’s
degrees earned by women
3
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Fra
cti
on
Year
BiologyChemistryMath & StatsEarth SciencesPhysicsEngineering
Credit: APS/Source: IPEDS Completion Survey
Percentage of women in physics, at
all levels, 1966-2010
4Credit: APS/Source: IPEDS Completion Survey & NSF-NIH Survey of Graduate Students &
Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Perc
en
tag
e o
f W
om
en
Year
Bachelor
Postdoctoral
Doctoral
The Petrie Multiplier
5Concept and images by Ian Gent, http://iangent.blogspot.co.uk/
Men
Women
1:4 gender ratio
The Petrie Multiplier
6Concept and images by Ian Gent, http://iangent.blogspot.co.uk/
Men
Women
1:4 gender ratio
0.35 remarks/man
5.6 remarks/woman
16:1 remark ratio
For a gender ratio of 1:r, the remark ratio goes as r2:1
Stereotype Threat
7photo by Adam Goering, information from reducingstereotypethreat.org
Stereotype threat refers to “being at risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one’s group”
Example 1: Black college students perform more poorly than whites on standardized tests when their race is emphasized, but better and equivalently when race was not emphasized.
Example 2: Female college students perform more poorly than males on math tests when the test is described as “diagnostic of math ability,” but not when the test is described as a “reasoning exercise.” Females perform better after exposure to a role model challenging the stereotype.
Stereotype Threat
8photo by Adam Goering, information from reducingstereotypethreat.org
Triggers include:• Invocation of stereotype, blatantly or subtly• Being in a minority situation – e.g. also applies
to whites when they fear appearing racist
Consequences include:• Underachievement• Self-handicapping (less preparation/effort)• Reduced sense of belonging to the stereotype
domain (e.g. females, math)• Choosing not to pursue the domain of study
Impostor Syndrome
9Impostor by EliseMeder via msafropolitan.com, information from counseling.caltech.edu
A chronic feeling of inadequacy in which high-achievers tend to minimize their accomplishments or attribute them to external factors, even while internalizing failures.
Affects women disproportionately to men.
Impostor Syndrome
10Impostor by EliseMeder via msafropolitan.com, quote from womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
“I report that my experience as an undergraduate in astrophysics, and later as a graduate student in the same subject, was often defined by protracted feelings of isolation, self-doubt, and even misery. It does not make this story unusual to report that I have experienced tremendous success in these same subjects, and that the misery and the success were very often contemporaneous.” – Dr. Sarah Ballard, NASA Carl Sagan Fellow, UW
Impostor Syndrome
11Negative self talk by Nicole Daddona via Flickr
Vicious Cycle
12
Virtuous Cycle
13scientist-minifig by Maia Weinstock via Flickr
Support a Healthy Workplace
• Use language that demonstrates respect
• Avoid “othering”
• Call out inappropriate behavior
• Really listen to diverse perspectives
14
Maintain a Healthy Mentality
• Listen to yourself
• Reflect upon your intrinsic value
• Allow yourself to self-promote
• Avoid self-derogation, especially aloud
• Seek mentors, even in the form of peers
15
Final Thoughts
16the tracks by Alejandro C via Flickr
“I’ve never been female, but I’ve been black all my life and so let me perhaps offer some insight from that perspective.I got to see how the world around me reacted to my expressions of these ambitions. All I can say is that the fact that I wanted to be a scientist, an astrophysicist, was, hands-down, the path of most resistance through the forces of society… Now here I am, I think, one of the most visible scientists in the land. And I look behind me and I say, ‘Where are the others who might have been this?’ And they’re not there. And I wonder: Where is the blood on the tracks that I happened to survive that others did not simply because of the forces of society that prevent it at every turn?” –Neil deGrasse Tyson
