{"title":"Cold Philosophers: Female Students' Perceived Lack of Fit in Stereotypes Is Associated With Underrepresentation","authors":"Arian Leopold, Michaela M. Köller, Daniela Renger","doi":"10.1002/casp.70036","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Women's underrepresentation in philosophy requires a comprehensive investigation of the factors that contribute to it. This paper examines the presence of gender stereotypes regarding philosophers and the consequences of a perceived misfit in three studies. A pre-study (<i>N</i> = 49) confirmed that students tend to think about males when asked to name philosophers. Study 1 (<i>N</i> = 530) used an online experiment with a general sample and found that philosophers are perceived as more male than female. Results demonstrated a perceived gender-philosopher-misfit regarding communal but not agentic attributes. Study 2 (<i>N</i> = 178) confirmed the prevalence of the male philosopher stereotype in philosophy students. Building on the Lack-of-Fit Model, we hypothesized and found that female students showed a higher perceived self-philosopher-misfit than male students on the communion dimension, but unexpectedly not on the agency dimension. Using a structural equation model, we showed that this perceived gender-related communal misfit was associated with their lowered intention to persist and increased intention to quit their philosophy studies. The results replicate prior findings on gender stereotype misfits and highlight the special role of the communal dimension in shaping career decisions. Please refer to the Supporting Information section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.</p>","PeriodicalId":47850,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/casp.70036","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/casp.70036","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Women's underrepresentation in philosophy requires a comprehensive investigation of the factors that contribute to it. This paper examines the presence of gender stereotypes regarding philosophers and the consequences of a perceived misfit in three studies. A pre-study (N = 49) confirmed that students tend to think about males when asked to name philosophers. Study 1 (N = 530) used an online experiment with a general sample and found that philosophers are perceived as more male than female. Results demonstrated a perceived gender-philosopher-misfit regarding communal but not agentic attributes. Study 2 (N = 178) confirmed the prevalence of the male philosopher stereotype in philosophy students. Building on the Lack-of-Fit Model, we hypothesized and found that female students showed a higher perceived self-philosopher-misfit than male students on the communion dimension, but unexpectedly not on the agency dimension. Using a structural equation model, we showed that this perceived gender-related communal misfit was associated with their lowered intention to persist and increased intention to quit their philosophy studies. The results replicate prior findings on gender stereotype misfits and highlight the special role of the communal dimension in shaping career decisions. Please refer to the Supporting Information section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology publishes papers regarding social behaviour in relation to community problems and strengths. The journal is international in scope, reflecting the common concerns of scholars and community practitioners in Europe and worldwide.