Proceedings of The 2nd International Conference on Gender Studies and Sexuality
Year: 2022
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/2nd.icgss.2022.07.05
[PDF]
Exploring Science-related Implicit Gender Stereotypes with Draw-a-Scientist-Test: A Study of Indian School Children
Vaishnavi Kawale, Dr. Sucharita Maji
ABSTRACT:
The Draw-a-Scientist-Test (DAST) has been one useful tool for studying science-related implicit gender stereotypes among children. The current study attempted to explore science-related perceptions in a sample of male school children (N=202, Age=12-15 years) in India. To realize that purpose, the present piece of research used DAST and a Word Association Test. The result of DAST reveals substantial gender stereotyping; i.e., 82% of the participants drew a male scientist, and only 2% depicted a female figure. Further, the words associated with a scientist disclosed three significant domains: lab work (chemical, lab, experiment, the microscope, invention, and test tube), male role model scientists (Albert Einstein, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and Newton), and perceived traits associated with science (hard-working, crazy, insane, genius and intelligent). The results displayed that the majority perceived a scientist as a male who works primarily in closed spaces, working in a laboratory with chemicals, beakers, and test tubes. The results of these gendered stereotypes are discussed at length.
keywords: children, DAST, drawing, gender, India, scientist, stereotypes.