Musso Pasquale, Ligorio Maria Beatrice, Ibe Ebere, Annese Susanna, Semeraro Cristina, Cassibba Rosalinda
Department of Educational Sciences, Psychology, Communication, University of Studies of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy.
Department of Science Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.
Front Psychol. 2022 Jul 6;13:879178. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.879178. eCollection 2022.
While many sociocultural, contextual, biological, behavioral, and psychological variables may contribute to the widespread under-representation of girls and women in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field, this study focused on STEM-gender stereotypes, school experiences, and adolescence as critical factors in driving students' interest and motivation in STEM. Based on this, the study (a) investigated differences by gender and national context (Italy vs. Nigeria) in adolescents' STEM-gender stereotypes, school empowerment, and school engagement in a preliminary step, and (b) simultaneously examined how adolescents' STEM-gender stereotypes were related to school empowerment and school engagement as well as to socioeconomic status (SES). These latter relations were considered within the context of the potential moderating role of gender and national context. Participants included 213 Italian adolescents (M = 13.91; 52.1% girls) and 214 Nigerian adolescents (M = 13.92; 60.3% girls), who completed measures of school empowerment and engagement, STEM-gender stereotypes, and SES. A multivariate analysis of covariance showed that Nigerian girls and boys reported significantly higher levels of school empowerment, school engagement, and STEM-gender stereotypes than their Italian peers. Moreover, regardless of the national context, boys scored significantly higher on school empowerment and STEM-gender stereotypes than girls. Furthermore, a multiple-group path analysis revealed how higher school empowerment was related to lower STEM-gender stereotypes in both Italian and Nigerian girls' groups, while higher school engagement was associated with lower STEM-gender stereotypes only in the Nigerian groups. Regardless of gender and nationality, higher SES was linked to lower STEM-gender stereotypes. These findings particularly suggest that school empowerment and school engagement can be relevant dimensions to be studied and to develop strategies to counteract STEM-gender stereotypes in adolescence. Nonetheless, gender and national context are key factors to be considered. Limitations, strengths, future research, and educational implications are discussed.
虽然许多社会文化、环境、生物、行为和心理变量可能导致女孩和妇女在科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域的代表性普遍不足，但本研究聚焦于STEM性别刻板印象、学校经历和青春期，将其视为推动学生对STEM的兴趣和动机的关键因素。基于此，该研究（a）在初步阶段调查了青少年在STEM性别刻板印象、学校赋权和学校参与方面的性别差异以及国家背景差异（意大利与尼日利亚），（b）同时研究了青少年的STEM性别刻板印象如何与学校赋权、学校参与以及社会经济地位（SES）相关。在性别和国家背景的潜在调节作用的背景下考虑了这些后者的关系。参与者包括213名意大利青少年（M = 13.91；52.1%为女孩）和214名尼日利亚青少年（M = 13.92；60.3%为女孩），他们完成了学校赋权和参与、STEM性别刻板印象以及SES的测量。多变量协方差分析表明，尼日利亚的女孩和男孩报告的学校赋权、学校参与和STEM性别刻板印象水平显著高于他们的意大利同龄人。此外，无论国家背景如何，男孩在学校赋权和STEM性别刻板印象方面的得分显著高于女孩。此外，多组路径分析揭示了在意大利和尼日利亚女孩组中，较高的学校赋权如何与较低的STEM性别刻板印象相关，而较高的学校参与仅在尼日利亚组中与较低的STEM性别刻板印象相关。无论性别和国籍如何，较高的SES与较低的STEM性别刻板印象相关。这些发现特别表明，学校赋权和学校参与可能是需要研究的相关维度，也是制定策略以对抗青春期STEM性别刻板印象的相关维度。尽管如此，性别和国家背景是需要考虑的关键因素。讨论了研究的局限性、优势、未来研究以及教育意义。
