Detection of Gender Bias and Stereotyping by Grade Level and Gender

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective of my study was to determine which grade level and which gender had the most gender bias. I tested 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th graders at my school along with adults who are employed by the school. I will also record if males or females are more gender bias. Methods/Materials A picture of a six month old baby dressed in stereotypical boy, girl, and gender neutral clothing paired with a prop that is stereotypically boy, girl, or gender neutral. My subjects were all of the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th graders, along with adult teachers and employees at my school. A word bank with passive, neutral, and aggressive words. I presented the three pictures individually to all students and adults in the study. I asked them to select one word that best described the baby in the picture. I studied 69 total subjects. I compared which grade level and gender picked the most passive words for the girl picture and the most aggressive words for the boy picture. Since the number of subjects varied by grade I calculated the percentages of responses. Results The girls were more gender bias than the boys in my study. On the girl picture the girls chose more (71%) passive words than the boys (59%). On the boy picture both genders chose equal amounts of aggressive words (25% vs 21%). The adults had the highest percentage of passive words matched to the girl picture. The 7th graders used the most aggressive words to describe the boy picture. Conclusions/Discussion In conclusion, the girls were much more gender bias than the boys; preferring to describe the girl picture as passive. At all grade levels, the words that were chosen to describe the girl picture were overwhelmingly (more than 50% of the time) passive words. This could be because young girls have been getting compliments their whole life such as "you are so cute, pretty, or nice." This may affect the way females see other girls and themselves. Where as, the boy picture had much more variety of passive, neutral, and aggressive words selected from the word bank. The difference in gender bias among grades was not statistically significant.

Competition history

• CSEF 2018 Behavioral & Social Sciences · Entry J0403

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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