What’s holding girls back? : Exploring the role of field beliefs in accounting for the gender gap in undergraduate academic fields in Singapore

Female underrepresentation in certain academic fields (e.g., Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields; STEM fields) continues to be a pervasive phenomenon cross-culturally. Studies have found evidence that field-specific ability beliefs (brilliance), which are beliefs regarding a fiel...

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Main Author: Chua, Athena Pei Fen
Other Authors: Setoh Pei Pei
Format: Final Year Project
Language:English
Published: Nanyang Technological University 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/150519
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1505192023-03-05T15:47:11Z What’s holding girls back? : Exploring the role of field beliefs in accounting for the gender gap in undergraduate academic fields in Singapore Chua, Athena Pei Fen Setoh Pei Pei School of Social Sciences psetoh@ntu.edu.sg Social sciences::Psychology Female underrepresentation in certain academic fields (e.g., Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields; STEM fields) continues to be a pervasive phenomenon cross-culturally. Studies have found evidence that field-specific ability beliefs (brilliance), which are beliefs regarding a field’s emphasis on brilliance to succeed, can account for this underrepresentation and this relationship suggests the underlying presence of the gender-brilliance stereotype. However, this study proposes that field-specific ability beliefs (science), which are beliefs regarding a field’s emphasis on math and science, can also account for female underrepresentation, and this relationship may suggest the presence of another major gender stereotype, the gender-science stereotype. Hence, this study aimed to examine the predictive validity of field-specific ability beliefs (brilliance) and field-specific ability beliefs (science) in accounting for female underrepresentation in undergraduate academic fields in an Asian country such as Singapore. We surveyed 1498 Nanyang Technological University (NTU) undergraduates across the 35 STEM and non-STEM undergraduate programs offered in NTU. Results indicated that field-specific ability beliefs (science), indicated by the STEM indicator and the systemizing-empathizing cognitive style, were correlated to female representation. Using hierarchical linear regressions, we found that the systemizing-empathizing cognitive style explained for female representation across fields, above and beyond what could be accounted for by field-specific ability beliefs (brilliance) and the STEM indicator. This suggests that in the context of Singaporean undergraduates, field-specific ability beliefs (science), and in particular the perceived cognitive style emphasized on in a field, may be more predictive of female representation as compared to field-specific ability beliefs (brilliance). Bachelor of Arts in Psychology 2021-06-14T09:25:19Z 2021-06-14T09:25:19Z 2021 Final Year Project (FYP) Chua, A. P. F. (2021). What’s holding girls back? : Exploring the role of field beliefs in accounting for the gender gap in undergraduate academic fields in Singapore. Final Year Project (FYP), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/150519 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/150519 en application/pdf Nanyang Technological University
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Social sciences::Psychology
spellingShingle Social sciences::Psychology
Chua, Athena Pei Fen
What’s holding girls back? : Exploring the role of field beliefs in accounting for the gender gap in undergraduate academic fields in Singapore
description Female underrepresentation in certain academic fields (e.g., Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields; STEM fields) continues to be a pervasive phenomenon cross-culturally. Studies have found evidence that field-specific ability beliefs (brilliance), which are beliefs regarding a field’s emphasis on brilliance to succeed, can account for this underrepresentation and this relationship suggests the underlying presence of the gender-brilliance stereotype. However, this study proposes that field-specific ability beliefs (science), which are beliefs regarding a field’s emphasis on math and science, can also account for female underrepresentation, and this relationship may suggest the presence of another major gender stereotype, the gender-science stereotype. Hence, this study aimed to examine the predictive validity of field-specific ability beliefs (brilliance) and field-specific ability beliefs (science) in accounting for female underrepresentation in undergraduate academic fields in an Asian country such as Singapore. We surveyed 1498 Nanyang Technological University (NTU) undergraduates across the 35 STEM and non-STEM undergraduate programs offered in NTU. Results indicated that field-specific ability beliefs (science), indicated by the STEM indicator and the systemizing-empathizing cognitive style, were correlated to female representation. Using hierarchical linear regressions, we found that the systemizing-empathizing cognitive style explained for female representation across fields, above and beyond what could be accounted for by field-specific ability beliefs (brilliance) and the STEM indicator. This suggests that in the context of Singaporean undergraduates, field-specific ability beliefs (science), and in particular the perceived cognitive style emphasized on in a field, may be more predictive of female representation as compared to field-specific ability beliefs (brilliance).
author2 Setoh Pei Pei
author_facet Setoh Pei Pei
Chua, Athena Pei Fen
format Final Year Project
author Chua, Athena Pei Fen
author_sort Chua, Athena Pei Fen
title What’s holding girls back? : Exploring the role of field beliefs in accounting for the gender gap in undergraduate academic fields in Singapore
title_short What’s holding girls back? : Exploring the role of field beliefs in accounting for the gender gap in undergraduate academic fields in Singapore
title_full What’s holding girls back? : Exploring the role of field beliefs in accounting for the gender gap in undergraduate academic fields in Singapore
title_fullStr What’s holding girls back? : Exploring the role of field beliefs in accounting for the gender gap in undergraduate academic fields in Singapore
title_full_unstemmed What’s holding girls back? : Exploring the role of field beliefs in accounting for the gender gap in undergraduate academic fields in Singapore
title_sort what’s holding girls back? : exploring the role of field beliefs in accounting for the gender gap in undergraduate academic fields in singapore
publisher Nanyang Technological University
publishDate 2021
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/150519
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