• HOME
  • GETTING STARTED
    • Quick Start Guide
    • Evaluation Software
    • Webinars 2023
    • Demo Videos
  • OUR PRODUCTS
    • Browse All Content
    • Molecular Biology Series
    • Introductory Biology
    • SimUText Ecology
    • Get Evaluation Software
  • DELIVERY SYSTEM
    • What is SimUText?
    • Accessibility
  • PRICING & ORDERING
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Research & Publications
    • Testimonials
    • Jobs
    • Accessibility
  • TECH SUPPORT
    • Knowledge Base
    • Help for Students
    • FAQ – Instructors
  • CONTACT
  • BLOG

Mobile Menu

  • Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

SimBio logo

Simulated Biology. Real Learning.

  • Evaluation Software
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • HOME
  • GETTING STARTED
    • Quick Start Guide
    • Evaluation Software
    • Webinars 2023
    • Demo Videos
  • OUR PRODUCTS
    • Browse All Content
    • Molecular Biology Series
    • Introductory Biology
    • SimUText Ecology
    • Get Evaluation Software
  • DELIVERY SYSTEM
    • What is SimUText?
    • Accessibility
  • PRICING & ORDERING
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Employee Ownership
    • Research & Publications
    • Blog
    • News & Events
    • Testimonials
    • Jobs
    • Accessibility
  • TECH SUPPORT
    • Knowledge Base
    • Help for Students
    • FAQ – Instructors

Women, Physics, and Testosterone

Home » All Things SimBio » Women, Physics, and Testosterone

December 7, 2010 //  by Eli Meir

Believing is half the battle

Although women now make up more than 1/2 of college students in the U.S., there is still a persistent gap in the number of women in the sciences, particularly in physics, and related fields like engineering and math. Even in biology, where women are well represented at the undergraduate and graduate level, by the time you look at college faculty there is still a strong bias towards men. It’s pretty clear that psychological factors play a role in these gaps. Our culture is infused with the notion that women (and many minorities) are not as good at science as men are, and this affects their performance. So two new papers I’ve just read are kind of heartening in showing that this cultural effect might be easier to shift than I would have thought.

The more relevant paper is from an introductory physics class in Colorado, a class where women have historically underperformed men. The professors did something which seemingly should make no difference – twice near the beginning of the semester, they had students spend 15 minutes picking a value that was personally important to them (say respecting their friends, or staying close with their family) and writing about it. That’s it. A control group of students did another writing exercise about values, but not personal values, for the same length of time. The professors then compared the two groups of students in terms of class grades, and improvement on a standard physics assessment over the course of the semester.

The control group showed the pattern they expected. Men improved more than women over the semester. But in the group that did the stupid little writing assignment (surely how students thought about it, no?), the gap in learning disappeared. Women improved just as much as men. The effect was strongest in women who had the impression men were better at physics than women were. A bunch more women in that experimental group got B’s instead of C’s in the class. Not bad for 15 minutes of work. The researchers conclude that just reflecting on something personal and positive is enough to change the psychological factors getting in the students way.

Totally unrelated to science education, the physics psychology study reminded me of another study I just read which looked at how women given a bit of extra testosterone behaved when bargaining. It turns out testosterone’s effect is more complicated than our stereotyped view – it’s a social-status hormone that often makes women, at least in this study, more likely to be fair to others than to be aggressive. But if a woman believed she was getting an injection of testosterone rather than a placebo, the inherent effect of testosterone was overriden. Those women who believed they got testosterone (regardless of whether they did) behaved aggressively, just like the stereotype, even though the stereotype is wrong. Although the beliefs triggered in this study are more directly related to the assessment (testosterone to bargaining) than in the physics study (values to forces and electromagnetism), it again shows how a small thought can change behavioral outcomes a lot.

Of course, if every teacher now has students write little essays about personally important values, I bet the effect will diminish quite a bit as students catch on to the manipulation. Nevertheless, there’s a long literature on self-efficacy, how believing in yourself makes a big difference to how well you perform. The encouraging thing with these studies is how little it takes to shift beliefs – it seems that small actions or thoughts can have major effects, meaning that it might not take as huge a shift to get women who have internalized the inferior-at-science stereotype to change their self-image, and suddenly be learning at a much closer rate to others. Or maybe we should just offer placebo injections at the start of our classes and tell students they are getting testosterone.

Author

  • Eli Meir
    Eli Meir

    SimBio founder Eli Meir brings together a PhD in biology, a long history of developing sophisticated software for both biology research and education markets, and over 20 years of experience running software companies. He has a passion for using these skills to improve education in both college and secondary schools through innovative products that let students learn by doing and playing.

    View all posts

Category: Biology Education, Research & Collaborations

Related Posts

John Roach

Making Climate Change Real While Giving Students Hope

CC Carson

A Systems Thinking Framework for Biology Classes

John Roach

Six Degrees of Biology

John Roach

San Francisco’s Algal Bloom

Eli Meir

Big Ideas from SABER

SimBio ant

Mentors Honored

Olga Helmy

What’s The Buzz?

Eli Meir

Using Simulations to Teach Cell Biology

Eli Meir

Helping Students Become Better Graphers

Beyond Multiple Choice

Virtual Labs vs. Wet Labs?

Beyond Curriculum

Previous Post: « Educating pre-medical students
Next Post: Sugary science by 10 year olds »

Footer

Testimonials

“[SimBio’s modules] provide a powerful environment for hands-on, active learning in Ecology and Evolution. The depth, design, and pedagogical effectiveness of these packages is unequaled. They have greatly enriched student interest and understanding in all of my courses, from Introductory Biology to Advanced Population Biology”

— Dr. Brad Lister
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

“The lab simulations have been very helpful to reinforce the lecture content and encourage students to use critical thinking skills to solve problems.”

— Patti Fallest-Strobl
Neumann University

“I was amazed how quickly and effortlessly the simulation taught them a dynamic system.”

— Paula Philbrick
University of Connecticut

“The students like [it] so much that they are working ahead of what I have assigned. They just think it’s fun. And from the quiz results I have so far, they’re really getting it. You guys are geniuses.”

— Paulette Bierzychudek
Lewis & Clark College

“Since we began using Simbio’s Ecology chapters our students consistently come to class better prepared. This is a key to the success of our hybrid flipped classroom approach.”

— Dr. Peter Curtis
Ohio State University

“That was the most fun I’ve had teaching ecology and, I would venture to guess, the most fun my students have had taking ecology from me.”

— Matt Orr
Oregon State University, Cascades

“Our students are more prepared and our class discussions are more sophisticated because SimUText is such a great out of class “instructor”. Since our students have SimUText preparation we can spend class time applying concepts and evaluating new information.”

— Emily Bernhardt
Duke University

“I LOVE that every lab is based on a real study. I LOVE that all of the labs offer an open-ended inquiry. I LOVE that the labs gradually teach the concepts and build up a repertoire of data collection techniques. Thank you, for creating them.”

— Jeanette Williams
Community College of Vermont

“I just wanted to say how great simutext has been. I could have memorized facts about the electron transport chain and passed the test, but would not have had any solid concept of what was happening inside. I hope that we continue to use it often even when things return to normal.”

— Student
Rochester Community and Technical College

“Congratulations for developing such a high quality chapter. I was very impressed by its comprehensiveness, accuracy, and thoughtful design. It really is superb.”

— Richard Boone
Humboldt State University

“I recommend your modules to anyone I can, because of all the online materials I’ve found, SimBio is really the best in content and best managed. I am definitely a SimBio fan!”

— Valerie Anderson
Marymount California University

All Things SimBio

  • John RoachMaking Climate Change Real While Giving Students Hope
    By John Roach
    January 19, 2023
  • CC CarsonA Systems Thinking Framework for Biology Classes
    By CC Carson
    November 29, 2022
  • John RoachSix Degrees of Biology
    By John Roach
    October 27, 2022
More Blog Posts →

Contact

Shipping: 1280 S. Third St W., Missoula, MT 59801
Billing: P.O. Box 7158, Missoula, MT 59807
Phone: (833) 314-7701
Fax: (617) 279-0055
Questions?

SimBio Order Form
VPAT / Accessibility Statement

Site Footer

  • Facebook

Copyright © 2023 SimBio. All Rights Reserved. Trademarks.