Reminders of historical underrepresentation of women in science and women’s interest in science

Despite some recent improvements, women are still largely underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Studies showed that the gender disparity itself can discourage women to engage in STEM fields. Women confronted with a male-dominated environment report less positive self-assessment of task ability, perceive the environment as inhospitable to women, and experience the pressure of complying with gender norms and stereotypes. If the impact of reminders of today's gender inequality in STEM has been largely studied, very little is known about the impact of reminders of historical gender inequality. On the one hand, reminders of a historical gender gap might activate similar mechanisms of today's gender gap and discourage women to access scientific fields. On the other hand, providing a historical reason for today's inequality might offer an alternative explanation for women's absence in STEM fields that is different from lack of ability. Furthermore, it might shift the attention from today's obstacles that women face to the improvements that women have obtained over the last decades. To test the direction of this impact, I conduct a field experiment where visitors of a history of science museum are primed to think about the predominance of male scientists between 1500 and 1800. I study the impact of such priming on women's interest in science. In a world where women are exposed to primarily historical male scientists (from Archimedes to Einstein) from a very young age, I believe that evaluating the impact of exposure to historical gender inequality in STEM is necessary to the design of policies aimed at closing the gender gap in STEM fields.