Let me start by saying this: no one ever told me I couldn’t be anything I wanted to be. Whether becoming an engineer, firefighter, or pilot, I was always encouraged to reach for the stars. My parents raised me to believe that I could achieve anything, and I wholeheartedly agree. I know that I can pursue any career path I want, hence why I am here at Stevens pursuing a future in Business and Technology. But, there was still a part of me that had the automatic thought that I belonged in a career “for girls,” like nursing, teaching, or being a secretary. It makes me upset that sometimes I still revert back to this feeling and thought process without even noticing. I can’t help but wonder why this happens, and what I can do to stop it.
When I was in high school, we were shown a pretty popular YouTube video titled “#RedrawTheBalance” — it truly opened my eyes to the issue of gender stereotypes within careers. The video depicts the idea that at a young age, children believe that women and men are assigned to different occupations simply because of gender. In the video, children are asked to draw people doing different jobs. The jobs pictured are firefighters, surgeons, and fighter pilots. The children drew mostly men doing the jobs, with 61 pictures being male and only five being female. After the children finished drawing, the teacher introduced them to a firefighter, a surgeon, and a fighter pilot, who were all women. The video states that “gender stereotypes are defined between the ages of 5 and 7.”
I couldn’t help but ask myself, why does this happen? Why do children associate certain professions with different genders? Why are gender stereotypes so prevalent? Studies have found that the toys children play with can impact gender stereotypes. For example, boys generally gravitate towards cars, trucks, and blocks while girls go for dolls, stuffed animals, and beauty products. Stereotypes are implemented at an extremely young age. Scientists believe that although there may be biological differences between boys and girls, “gender differences and self-characterizations are to a large extent socially constructed.” In relation to occupations, this difference can drastically be seen. According to Gouvernement du Québec’s study, Effects of Stereotypes on Personal Development, men make up “24.8% of the workforce in the natural and applied sciences and related professions, 6.3% of workers in transportation and equipment operation, and 2.1% of construction sector workers.” (Correction: women, not men, make up 24.8% of the workforce…) Children playing with certain toys most likely has an impact on what they want to be when they grow up.
Television and film also can have an impact on early exposure to gender stereotypes. Specifically, I found a case that discusses the relationship between television, math, and gender. The idea that boys are better at math has been pushed in different television series, which therefore affects how children view themselves and their abilities. A study conducted by university professionals in Germany asked children to watch a one minute clip from a German television series that shows two girls not doing well in math, so they copied homework from a male classmate. To examine the effects of these stereotypes, there was a randomized study conducted where fifth graders watched this television program and responded. As explained in the case, “The results therefore suggest that television can activate and increase stereotypes about males’ advantage in math in children, which might ultimately lead to gender differences in mathematically-intensive STEM fields.”
While it’s not easy to change a social construct that has been embedded in my brain for as long as I could remember, I can certainly try to make a difference. As a woman emerging into a male-dominated career field, I can try to encourage girls to go after their dreams, whatever that may be. Whether it’s engineering, finance, nursing, or anything in between, their gender should not have anything to do with their choice of occupation. This also applies to boys as well—whatever profession they choose, there should be no gender bias. In the future, I hope to see an elimination of gender stereotypes and I’ll do my best to make a change. Like my parents taught me: anyone can be anything they set their mind to.
Girl Talk is an Opinion column written by a current female student to discuss issues
surrounding women, whether it be feminism, current events, personal experiences at
Stevens or in life, and more.
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