ABSTRACT
Although there is no doubt that active discrimination against women and girls in STEM has occurred in the past, there is some debate over how much and how often acts of discrimination occur these days now that explicit demonstrations of bias are generally viewed as unacceptable. However, biased attitudes still seem to be widespread, and this chapter looks at how much they affect women’s representation in STEM. An investigation into bias against females in hiring by science faculty at research universities was conducted by Moss-Racusin, Dovidio, Brescoll, Graham, and Handelsman in 2012. Focusing on bias that occurs during childhood, Gunderson, Ramirez, Levine, and Beilock described how bias by teachers and parents can influence girls’ attitudes toward math. Almost all of the studies referenced by Gunderson and her colleagues on the effect of parents’ and teachers’ beliefs about children’s math abilities were conducted before 2000, and the few studies from 2000 or later were conducted outside of the United States.
