What Kind of Children Are More Likely to Be Recognized as “Science Types?”: Focusing on Mothers’ Cultural Beliefs

Abstract

Japanese higher education has a low proportion of women in academic areas such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The results of recent empirical studies in Japan suggest that from the elementary school stage, boys are more likely to recognize themselves as “science types” than girls, and that such gender differentiation is maintained in later educational stages. Based on the idea that there are values that tend to regard boys rather than girls as “science types” and that these may be transmitted during the socialization process, and the discussion of the critical role of significant others in the formation of science identity, this study focused on the values held by mothers, who are the main socializers in early childhood. We first tested the hypothesis that mothers are more likely to recognize their children as “science types” if they are boys, regardless of their children’s academic abilities. Second, we tested the hypothesis that such double standards may be caused by gender-related cultural beliefs. A statistical analysis of the results of a survey of 1,000 mothers who have children in the first grade clearly supported both hypotheses. The results suggest that girls need to overcome their parents’ low expectations to develop “science type” self-concepts.