Doctoral Dissertation Research in Economics: The Effects of Gender and Racial Stereotypes on Math Confidence, Effort, and Achievement

经济学博士论文研究：性别和种族刻板印象对数学信心、努力和成就的影响

• 批准号: 2117083
• 负责人: Frank Schilbach
• 金额: $ 2.5万
• 依托单位: National Bureau of Economic Research Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-08-15 至 2024-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2117083&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Economics; Effects

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).There are large, persistent gender and race gaps in STEM participation and achievement, as well as persistent academic stereotypes about race and gender. This project seeks to understand the effects of providing information to elementary and middle school students to counteract the negative stereotypes and social norms surrounding the participation and achievement of under-represented groups in STEM – particularly the effects of this information on students’ confidence, STEM engagement, and achievement. While research show that stereotypes about ability matter for adults’ confidence and participation in STEM, these stereotypes emerge at much younger ages. This study will evaluate the impacts of intervening against these negative stereotypes early in students’ educational trajectory, which may be more effective and more long-lasting than intervening with adults. In addition to increasing diversity in STEM and encouraging more equal opportunities for all students, closing the gender and race gaps in STEM engagement is expected to improve productivity and innovation in the sector and reduce wage gaps, since more than 90 percent of STEM occupations offer wages above the national average. Closing gaps in STEM participation is thus a top priority for the US government as well as business leaders and professional organizations in STEM fields. The results of this research could guide policies to close the racial and gender STEM gaps and thus increase the supply of STEM workforce. This will increase economic growth, decrease poverty as well as decrease income inequality in the US.This study will provide the first experimental evidence on the role of stereotypes in creating gaps in STEM achievement. It will also provide novel evidence on the mechanisms through which stereotypes cause these effects; specifically, the effects of stereotypes on confidence, engagement with and responsiveness to feedback, and effort. This research uses a randomized intervention – a series of videos and exercises that provide information to counteract prevailing negative academic stereotypes – delivered to students on a leading online learning platform to study these issues. Student behavior on the platform will provide high-frequency measures of student effort, learning strategies, and engagement with feedback. Additional outcomes will be measured in a survey, also integrated into the platform, which will provide psychometric and revealed-preference measures of math interest, confidence, and endorsement of stereotypes. Finally, student achievement will be measured using standardized test scores. Differences in outcomes between treated and control students will deliver the effect of the intervention, and the large set of considered outcomes will be used to test various mechanisms that explain the effect of race and gender stereotypes on math achievement. The results of this research could guide policies to close the racial and gender STEM gaps and thus increase the supply of STEM workforce. This will increase economic growth, decrease poverty as well as decrease income inequality in the US.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该病房的全部或部分资金是庞大的，持续的性别和种族差距，表达和成就，以及关于种族和性别的持续学术刻板印象。负面的社会规范围绕着不受欢迎的群体参与其中，这是学生的信心，STEM参与度和成就。负面的刻板印象的忠诚度，除了增加STEM的多样性并鼓励所有学生更加持久的成年人外，这可能会更加持久。创新创新创新IND降低了工资差距，因为超过90个珀索提供了超过国家平均水平的工资。种族安德·茎的缝隙因此，索具劳动力的贫困和减少美国的不平等。这项研究将提供有关刻板印象在茎上成就中的差距的第一个证据。参与反馈和努力。并认可刻板印象。 STEM。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过评估Usindation的知识分子和更广泛的影响标准而被认为值得支持。