Programming experience promotes higher STEM motivation among first-grade girls

• Six-year-olds held stereotypes that boys are better at robots and programming.
• Stereotypes about robots were stronger than stereotypes about math and science.
• Girls given programming experience showed higher technology interest and self-efficacy.
• Experience also eliminated gender differences in technology interest and self-efficacy.
• Providing girls with positive STEM experiences is beneficial.

The gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) engagement is large and persistent. This gap is significantly larger in technological fields such as computer science and engineering than in math and science. Gender gaps begin early; young girls report less interest and self-efficacy in technology compared with boys in elementary school. In the current study (N = 96), we assessed 6-year-old children’s stereotypes about STEM fields and tested an intervention to develop girls’ STEM motivation despite these stereotypes. First-grade children held stereotypes that boys were better than girls at robotics and programming but did not hold these stereotypes about math and science. Girls with stronger stereotypes about robotics and programming reported lower interest and self-efficacy in these domains. We experimentally tested whether positive experience with programming robots would lead to greater interest and self-efficacy among girls despite these stereotypes. Children were randomly assigned either to a treatment group that was given experience in programming a robot using a smartphone or to control groups (no activity or other activity). Girls given programming experience reported higher technology interest and self-efficacy compared with girls without this experience and did not exhibit a significant gender gap relative to boys’ interest and self-efficacy. These findings show that children’s views mirror current American cultural messages about who excels at computer science and engineering and show the benefit of providing young girls with chances to experience technological activities.

When 6-year-olds received experimentally-designed experiences programming robots, their interest in programming was significantly higher than those without such experiences. In the controls without these experimental experiences, there were significant gender differences, such that boys’ interest exceeded that of girls (pairwise comparison of light bars, ***p < .001). For girls with the robot treatment, interest in programming was significantly higher than girls in the controls (pairwise comparison of girls’ bars, **p < .01), and their interest was statistically indistinguishable from that of boys.Figure optionsDownload high-quality image (57 K)Download as PowerPoint slide