Why Don't Girls Choose Technological Studies? Adolescents' Stereotypes and Attitudes towards Studies Related to Medicine or Engineering: Studies Related to Medicine or Engineering

Mercedes López Sáez ^[1] ; Susana Puertas ^[2] ; Milagros Sainz Ibáñez ^[3]
1. [1] Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
  
  Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
  
  Madrid, España
2. [2] Universidad de Granada
  
  Universidad de Granada
  
  Granada, España
3. [3] Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
  
  Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
  
  Barcelona, España
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Localización: The Spanish Journal of Psychology, ISSN 1138-7416, Vol. 14, Nº. 1, 2011, págs. 74-87
Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
- Gender differences in choice of studies emerge already in adolescence. Two studies with adolescents are presented, the goal of which is to explore the influence of gender by assessing males and females who choose studies related to Medicine or Engineering. Study 1, correlational (N = 330, mean age 15.9, 56.7% girls), shows that girls who choose technology are more poorly appraised than girls who choose other studies. Study 2 (N = 130; mean age 16.77, 56.2% girls), experimental, measures implicit attitudes (using the IAT) towards males and females from Medicine and Engineering. Implicit attitudes are more favorable towards women if they are studying Medicine and towards men if they study Engineering. The results are analyzed with relation to the percentages of boys and girls in the different fields of study.