A recent study found that by the young age of six, girls do not feel as smart as boys. Whereas up until age five girls were just as likely to perceive themselves to be as smart as boys, by age six these children absorb the stereotypes of their gender and feel less adequate than boys. When conducting this study, the researchers started by telling children stories about people who were “really smart.” At age five, both boys and girls identified the main characters to be people of their own gender. But, by age six, girls also identified the main characters to be boys. The same is true for activities designated for “really smart” kids. At age five, both boys and girls believed the “really smart” protagonist to be someone of their same gender. But, by age six, girls were less interested in these activities, finding that they were more suited for boys.
So, what does this mean? This means that by the startlingly young age of six, girls absorb and conform to the stereotypes of their gender. Sometime between ages five and six, girls become increasingly aware of the norms that are placed on them, and, as they are so young, believe that those socially constructed norms are universally true.
Young girls learn these stereotypes from the everyday culture in which they are immersed. The media, their peers, their teachers, and their parents all contribute to girls’ understanding of what they can and cannot achieve. Sadly, in the long run, this study seems to believe that these stereotypes ultimately discourage adult women from “pursuing professions that [stereotypically] require special mental abilities,” such as physics and philosophy. The proof is there: in the field of physics, women make up just under 20% of all people earning bachelor’s degrees. As for philosophy, while women make up nearly 40% of introductory philosophy students, that proportion continues to decrease with respect to the increase in status level within an academic setting.
In the study done about women in the philosophy field, researchers hypothesized that relatively extrinsic factors, such as stereotypes and evaluation bias, were to blame. It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that multiple studies would pinpoint the same causes: cultural stereotypes.
Enough of the facts; we get it. It’s no secret that women have been made to believe themselves to be inferior to men. I also feel the need to emphasize that before you keep reading, I don’t know the solution to this problem.
All I know is that it starts with one’s everyday interactions. At a very young age, we begin labeling girls as pretty or cute. We tell them that they’re pretty, but not that they’re smart. While it seems miniscule, changing one’s everyday interactions is a small, feasible way to bring about real change when it comes to the confidence gap between the genders.