Challenging Stereotypes at This Year’s NCWIT Summit

Woman with tablet computerBy Jessica Titlebaum (Chicago)

Understanding and breaking stereotypes was a hot topic at the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) Summit last week in Chicago.  The NCWIT was established in 2004 with support from the National Science Foundation to increase the amount of women in computing and technology. NCWIT does not consider themselves a women’s network rather a change leader bringing men and women together to recruit, develop, and retain women in information technology.

One of the speakers at the Summit was Dr. Shelley Correll, a professor at Stanford University who studies how gendered expectations shape the everyday experiences of men and women in achievement-oriented settings. She spoke on the value of understanding biases and stereotypes within the hiring process.

Dr. Correll began her presentation referring to a study about the number of female musicians performing in orchestras. A study co-authored by Cecilia Rouse, an associate professor at Princeton University, and Claudia Goldin, a professor of economics at Harvard University, confirmed the existence of sex-biased hiring by major symphony orchestras and illustrated the value of blind auditions.

According to Correll, females only represented 5% of the musicians that played in symphony orchestras in the 1970’s. When blind auditions were introduced, musicians played behind a screen so the sex of the musician was hidden, 50 percent of the musicians that moved on to the second round of auditions were females.  Today, females make up 25 percent of the musicians in symphony orchestras.

“This study points out two things,” said Correll. “The first is that gender stereotypes bias the evaluations of individuals in ways that are often male advantaging. The second is that these biases can be reduced or eliminated.”

Countering Stereotypes in Hiring

Correll explained that stereotypes function as cognitive shortcuts in information processing. Knowing this, she recommends holding decision makers accountable for their actions during the hiring process.

“Make people slow down and scrutinize their decisions,” said Correll.

She also suggests establishing clear criteria for evaluating candidates and to evaluate the criteria you are using when making hiring decisions.

Correll brought up another study by Cordelia Fine that is documented in the book, “Delusions of Gender.”

In Fine’s study, a group of hiring managers were given the same resume to evaluate. One group received a resume with a man’s name on top while the other half received the same resume with a woman’s name on top. According to Correll, 79 percent of the hiring managers believed that the male resume was capable of the job while only 42 percent picked the female resume.

“Hiring managers were four times more doubtful about the female’s accomplishments, wanting to see evidence that the woman actually got the grants and publications, that were listed on her resume, on her own,” she said.

The study was taken a step further.  The male resume was built up with more experience and the female’s resume was revised with more education.   Then vice versa, more education was added to the male resume and more experience was added to the female resume.  In both situations, the man was believed more capable.

In this case, stereotypes gave the male resume an advantage. Correll provided tips on how to combat these stereotypes during the hiring process.  She suggested self-promotion, staying relentlessly positive and appearing confident.  She also recommended not drawing attention to your children, if you have any.

Stereotypes in the Field of IT

Dr. Nora Newcombe, Professor of Psychology at Temple University spoke at the conference about spatial skills related to gender differences. Spatial skills are defined as the ability to manipulate two- and three- dimensional figures and are measured with cognitive tests. For example, test takers must recreate patterns they see with shapes provided to them. These skills are not a fixed ability for men or women and can be improved by experience.

According to Newcombe, people that score high on spatial skill tests usually pursue careers in physical science, math/computer science and engineering. However, less than a third of women with high spatial skills go into math and engineering.

She believes that cultural and social economic stereotypes act as gatekeepers to these professions for women.  She made the observation that women tend to gravitate towards “helpful fields” and that math or engineering are not ‘helpful fields.’

This concept echoed throughout the audience as well.

Carolyn Vallas, assistant dean for diversity at the University of Virginia, said that women are inclined to go to medical school or into public health careers because these are more ‘helpful fields.’

Vallas was attending the conference because the University of Virginia was awarded a grant from NCWIT. Funded by Microsoft, the grant will allow women from across the country to visit the University of Virginia’s school of engineering and explore a degree in computer science.

“We recently built a $65 million dollar building with the newest technology and would like to invite women to see what they can do with a PhD in computer science research and development,” said Vallas.

Vallas also said they are sensitive to the needs of women and want to cultivate an environment where women can grow and contribute to the field.  She noted that the new building includes a nursing area for new mothers.

While women have barriers to entry when exploring careers in information technology, organizations like NCWIT and the National Science Foundation are helping women make strides in these areas. And for good reason, according to Vallas, between now and 2020, a third of new jobs in America will be in computer science.