Material for Causal attribution of sex differences and attitudes toward women in STEM

People who hold essentialist beliefs about gender attribute social differences between women and men to biological causes. The notion that gender differences are innate and therefore fixed may contribute to the STEM gender gap. This study examined, through two online experiments, whether priming participants with information about the causes of gender differences in math abilities influences their endorsement of gender stereotypes, attitudes toward science and women in science, and gender bias. The experiments were conducted with a sample of Italian young people aged 17 to 20. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of three articles addressing the gender gap in math abilities, which framed the cause as biological, social, or indicated no difference. The findings suggest no significant differences among the three groups in attitudes toward science or women in science. However, women exposed to the biological explanation exhibited stronger gender stereotypes than those in the social explanation condition. Additionally, in the second experiment, female students described as interested in STEM were consistently perceived as more atypical than their peers, regardless of the treatment condition. Finally, participants in both the "no difference" and "biological" treatment groups were more likely to nominate male students over female students for a hypothetical math and science competition.