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The stereotype of computer scientists as geeks who memorize Star Trek lines and never leave the lab may be tug charwoman away from the playing area , a unexampled study intimate .
And adult female can be turn off by just the strong-arm environs , say , of a computer - scientific discipline schoolroom or office that ’s strew with target considered " masculine geeky , " such as video games and science - fiction material .
" When multitude think of computer science , the figure that immediately pops into many of their mind is of thecomputer geeksurrounded by such things as computer games , science - fiction memorabilia and dust nutrient , " pronounce jumper lead investigator Sapna Cheryan , an assistant prof of psychology at the University of Washington . " That stereotype does n’t invoke to many women who do n’t like the portrayal of masculinity that it paint a picture . "
The upshot : Women do n’t palpate they would fit in and so channelise clear of computer - skill majors and jobs , the researchers say . Such avoidance could help oneself to explain why just 22 percent of information processing system - skill graduate are cleaning lady , a percentage that has been steadily decreasing , according to 2008 data from the National Science Foundation .
Not only arewomen missing outon some of the " best career chance , but computing machine scientific discipline is lose out on distaff perspectives , " Cheryan and her fellow worker pen in a recent issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology .
Geeky objects
The event come from four study with more than 250 students who were n’t studying estimator science .
In the first experimentation , about 40 manlike and female students entered a small schoolroom that either contained objects stereotypically associate with computer scientific discipline , such as Star Trek notice , video game boxes and Coke cans , or non - stereotyped items such as nature notice , artwork , a dictionary and umber mugs . ( The students were told to ignore these objects because the room was being shared with another class . )
Then , the pupil filled out questionnaires about their attitudes toward calculator skill .
In the geeky surround , women were significantly less interested than men in computing equipment scientific discipline , while there was no gender difference for the non - stereotypical classroom . Female students in the stereotypical environment said they felt less standardised to computer - skill majors than did those in the classroom that was n’t geeked out .
In three other experiment , two of which postulate about 90 educatee each , participant were told to think stereotypical and non - stereotypical objects in various environments . Here are some of the results :
Changing computer scientific discipline
There was a subset of woman in the study who did n’t consider the unimaginative objects as masculine and geeky and are n’t turned off by the consociate office or classroom .
" That tells me that it ’s a cultural phenomenon , " Cheryan told LiveScience . " These objects are not inherently masculine or geeky ; they ’ve been constructed that way . That means to me we can reconstruct the object or more importantly the whole subject field . "
Cheryan added one way to change the lopsided field would be , " broadening the image of information processing system science to make it so that other hoi polloi feel a connection to the subject area . "
