Profess-sirs and Profess-hers: gender and ethnicity stereotypes that students associate with scientists.

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Title: Profess-sirs and Profess-hers: gender and ethnicity stereotypes that students associate with scientists.
Authors: Jodie, Price1 (AUTHOR), Patrick, Murphy1 (AUTHOR) patrick.murphy@york.ac.uk
Source: International Journal of Science Education. Dec2025, Vol. 47 Issue 18, p2434-2452. 19p.
Subject Terms: *Gender stereotypes, *Student attitudes, *Research methodology, *STEM occupations, Stereotypes, Scientists' attitudes
Abstract: A common narrative emerges from previous studies suggesting that scientists are most frequently thought of as being old, white men. This stereotype has been assessed in the past using drawing analysis methods but here, an updated approach – a drawing activity followed by a survey was chosen, to remove the need for inference. The purpose of the survey was to understand if the aspects of the scientist-stereotype are still present and impacting school students today and if students' career prospects are influenced by learning about a diverse range of scientists. Our findings suggest gender and ethnicity aspects of the scientist stereotype are still present but a shift has occurred, away from the old-age associated with a scientist, towards a younger individual. This adaptation suggests that it is possible to influence this stereotype and we propose that further understanding of what caused this change could influence the stereotypical gender and ethnicity too. It was found that learning about a diverse range of scientists is not associated with a school student feeling like they can have a career in STEM, which we hypothesise may be due to the passive nature of this intervention and that a more active intervention method may be needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of International Journal of Science Education is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Profess-sirs and Profess-hers: gender and ethnicity stereotypes that students associate with scientists.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Jodie%2C+Price%22">Jodie, Price</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Patrick%2C+Murphy%22">Patrick, Murphy</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> patrick.murphy@york.ac.uk</i>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22International+Journal+of+Science+Education%22">International Journal of Science Education</searchLink>. Dec2025, Vol. 47 Issue 18, p2434-2452. 19p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Gender+stereotypes%22">Gender stereotypes</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Student+attitudes%22">Student attitudes</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+methodology%22">Research methodology</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22STEM+occupations%22">STEM occupations</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Stereotypes%22">Stereotypes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Scientists'+attitudes%22">Scientists' attitudes</searchLink>
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  Label: Abstract
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  Data: A common narrative emerges from previous studies suggesting that scientists are most frequently thought of as being old, white men. This stereotype has been assessed in the past using drawing analysis methods but here, an updated approach – a drawing activity followed by a survey was chosen, to remove the need for inference. The purpose of the survey was to understand if the aspects of the scientist-stereotype are still present and impacting school students today and if students' career prospects are influenced by learning about a diverse range of scientists. Our findings suggest gender and ethnicity aspects of the scientist stereotype are still present but a shift has occurred, away from the old-age associated with a scientist, towards a younger individual. This adaptation suggests that it is possible to influence this stereotype and we propose that further understanding of what caused this change could influence the stereotypical gender and ethnicity too. It was found that learning about a diverse range of scientists is not associated with a school student feeling like they can have a career in STEM, which we hypothesise may be due to the passive nature of this intervention and that a more active intervention method may be needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of International Journal of Science Education is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/09500693.2024.2404161
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 19
        StartPage: 2434
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Gender stereotypes
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Student attitudes
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Research methodology
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: STEM occupations
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Stereotypes
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      – SubjectFull: Scientists' attitudes
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              Text: Dec2025
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