A new article published in Psychological Science by researchers from the University of British Columbia suggests that persistent assumptions about “natural” gender differences may be steering women away from system-focused roles in STEM. In their article, UBC Professors Toni Schmader, Audrey Aday, and Holly R Engstrom discuss findings from three studies. Two studies suggested that STEM professionals who believe career interests are biologically hardwired were more likely to assign women to people-oriented tasks and men to technical ones—even when qualifications were identical. A third study found that undergraduate women who received people-focused role recommendations expressed less interest in technical careers. Schmader said such biases “shape not just skills, but interests” and encouraged future research to explore the barriers keeping men from people-focused careers such as care work and teaching.
