TY - JOUR
T1 - Gender stereotype endorsement and achievement-related outcomes
T2 - The role of competence beliefs and task values
AU - Plante, Isabelle
AU - De la Sablonnière, Roxane
AU - Aronson, Joshua M.
AU - Théorêt, Manon
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Mathieu Roy and Tricia Voda for thoughtful comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by a doctoral scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to the first author, and by a Spencer Research Grant to the third author.
PY - 2013/7
Y1 - 2013/7
N2 - In most Western societies, males are stereotyped as having stronger mathematical abilities than females whereas females are stereotyped as having stronger verbal abilities than males. Exposure to negative ability stereotypes reliably undermines performance in laboratory experiments, yet the mechanisms by which such stereotypes may influence boys' and girls' achievement outcomes in the more naturalistic setting of primary and secondary school remain unclear. The current study evaluated a hypothesis suggested by expectancy-value theories (e.g., Eccles & Wigfield, 2002): the relationship between stereotypes and achievement outcomes is importantly mediated by a student's perceived competence and his or her valuation of the domain in question. We tested the hypothesis by examining the career intentions and grades of 762 sixth and eighth graders. As expected, even after controlling for prior achievement, stereotype endorsement primarily predicted grades and career intentions indirectly, through students' competence beliefs and task values. These results suggest that stereotypes predict achievement-related outcomes most clearly when students internalize them.
AB - In most Western societies, males are stereotyped as having stronger mathematical abilities than females whereas females are stereotyped as having stronger verbal abilities than males. Exposure to negative ability stereotypes reliably undermines performance in laboratory experiments, yet the mechanisms by which such stereotypes may influence boys' and girls' achievement outcomes in the more naturalistic setting of primary and secondary school remain unclear. The current study evaluated a hypothesis suggested by expectancy-value theories (e.g., Eccles & Wigfield, 2002): the relationship between stereotypes and achievement outcomes is importantly mediated by a student's perceived competence and his or her valuation of the domain in question. We tested the hypothesis by examining the career intentions and grades of 762 sixth and eighth graders. As expected, even after controlling for prior achievement, stereotype endorsement primarily predicted grades and career intentions indirectly, through students' competence beliefs and task values. These results suggest that stereotypes predict achievement-related outcomes most clearly when students internalize them.
KW - Career intentions
KW - Expectancy-value theory
KW - Gender differences
KW - Gender stereotypes
KW - School performance
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2013.03.004
DO - 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2013.03.004
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84877886261
SN - 0361-476X
VL - 38
SP - 225
EP - 235
JO - Contemporary Educational Psychology
JF - Contemporary Educational Psychology
IS - 3
ER -