‘She is failing; he is learning’: Gender-differentiated attributions for girls' and boys' errors

Background

According to gender-differentiated attributions of failure in the STEM field, errors tend to be attributed to internal factors more to girls than to boys.

Aims

This experimental study explored factors influencing gender-differentiated teachers' internal attributions of girls' and boys' errors and the consequent likelihood of teachers' hesitancy to offer educational robotics (ER) courses to them. The predictions were as follows: (1) the likelihood of teachers' hesitancy would be related to gender-differentiated internal attributions of errors based on expectations of a low natural aptitude for girls; and (2) teachers with high levels of gender stereotypes would be more hesitant about offering ER to girls than to boys via the mediation of internal attributions of errors as being due to girls' low levels of natural aptitude for ER.

Sample and Methods

In this experimental study, 155 Italian teachers (M = 38.59 years, SD = 8.20) responded to a questionnaire at the end of a course on ER in 2022. Teachers randomly read one of two vignettes describing a girl's or a boy's error during an ER course.

Results

Results of multiple regression and moderated mediation analyses confirmed both predictions.

Conclusions

In order to reduce the gender STEM gap, the tendency to attribute girls' errors to internal and natural causes should be better inspected.