Subtyping, Subgrouping, and Stereotype Change

There's been a fair bit of research finding that negative stereotypes are part of what deters women and racial minorities from computer science and STEM in general (e.g. [1]). These stereotypes make it harder for women and minorities to personally identify with computer science, and amplify some of the biases that they face in CS. So for this post, I'll be going over observed phenomena in social psychology and sociology that pertain to stereotype change.

Stereotypes

Stereotypes are really hard to change. They're reinforced from many sources (media, individuals, groups, etc). But even more than that, stereotypes are schema: they are how we mentally organize information about social groups, and how we can determine whether we are "in" or "out" of a group. Schema allow us to process information effortlessly, and are pretty deeply ingrained once they're there.

The human brain is not very good at changing schema. When we see evidence that contradicts our schema, our brains will do all sorts of mental gymnastics to avoid confronting or changing the incorrect schema. Most frequently, we forget that we saw it all. Sometimes our misconceptions even get stronger [2].

This happens with stereotypes. Betz and Sekaquaptewa did a study where they showed role models to young girls, to try to motivate the girls' interest in STEM [3]. Role models were either gender-neutral, or feminine. The result? Gender-neutral role models boosted interest -- and feminine (counterstereotypic) role models actually reduced girls' interest in science. To these girls, the feminine scientist -- a stereotype violator -- is aberrant.