Reducing the effects of the stereotype threat that girls perform less well than boys in mathematics: the efficacy of a m
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Reducing the effects of the stereotype threat that girls perform less well than boys in mathematics: the efficacy of a mixed debate in a real classroom situation Boris Vallée1 · Fanny Magoutier2 · Dimitri Voisin3 · Benoît Montalan1 Received: 30 January 2019 / Accepted: 26 July 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract The present research aims at testing the effects of the mixed debate in a classroom situation on reducing the stereotype threat according to which girls perform less well than boys in mathematics. Our work is based on studies conducted on stereotype threat (Steele and Aronson in J Person Soc Psychol 69:797–811. https ://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.69.5.797, 1995), as well as those aiming to reduce the impact of stereotype threat on stereotyped populations (Huguet and Régner in J Educ Psychol 99(3):545–560. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.99.3.545, 2007; Marx and Roman in Personal Soc Psychol Bull 28:1185–1197. https://doi. org/10.1177/01461672022812004, 2002; Spencer et al. in J Exp Soc Psychol 35:4– 28. https://doi.org/10.1006/jesp.1998.1373, 1999). We will more particularly study Smith and Postmes’ (Br J Soc Psychol 50(1):74–98. https://doi.org/10.1348/01446 6610X500340, 2010) work on small group discussions used to reduce the influence of the threat. Results indicate that having a debate as such reduces the impact of the stereotype threat in girls. Possible interpretations of the results and future research perspectives will be put forward. Keywords Stereotype threat · Threat reduction · Debate · Pupils · Gender
* Boris Vallée boris.vallee@univ‑rouen.fr 1
CRFDP Laboratory (EA 7475), Department of Psychology, Rouen-Normandy University, 76821 Mont‑Saint‑Aignan, France
2
Paris 8 University (IED Paris 8), 93526 Saint‑Denis, France
3
C2S Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Reims Champagne-Ardenne University, 51096 Reims, France
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1 Introduction Women continue to be underrepresented and have less favorable perceptions than boys about the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields (National Center for Education Statistics 2015; National Science Foundation 2019). According to PISA’s study by the OECD (2019), 15-year old girls get a score in mathematics six points lower than boys. Despite their good performances in this area, only one girl out of six would like to choose a scientific career whereas one boy out of three would. Indeed, in France, women represent a minority in preparatory classes to the prestigious schools (29.7% in 2011 in the science programs MESR DGESIP-DGRI SIES, SISE 2013) and in engineering schools (26.9% in 2017, MEN-MESRI-DEPP, RERS 2017; level 6, see the classification of the International Standard Classification of Education, ISCED). Women’s lower engagement in mathematics could stem from a chronic series of failure in that domain. Several hypotheses have been advanced to explain the gender gap in mathematics. According to a biopsychological perspective (Halpern et al. 2007), boys would actually
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