In recent years, women have earned nearly 60 percent of the college degrees awarded in the U.S., but only about one in five of the degrees granted in physics, computer science and engineering. What's behind the gender gap? College administrators have looked for answers as they try to attract women to their science programs, and pundits have blamed stereotypes, societal pressure, and -- controversially -- a difference in innate abilities between the sexes.
Now, a new study suggests that the psychological effects of subtle stereotypes are at least partly to blame for the achievement gap -- and that a remarkably easy intervention could help more women stick with science. Social psychologist Akira Miyake and his colleagues at the University of Denver found that for women in an introductory college physics class, a simple writing exercise that bolstered the students' sense of self-worth helped raise their grades significantly, pushing many of them from a C to a B in the class.
