{"id":3755,"date":"2015-06-11T06:15:32","date_gmt":"2015-06-11T06:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=3755"},"modified":"2016-09-08T18:33:24","modified_gmt":"2016-09-08T18:33:24","slug":"beliefs-about-innate-talent-may-dissuade-students-from-stem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/beliefs-about-innate-talent-may-dissuade-students-from-stem\/","title":{"rendered":"Beliefs about innate talent may dissuade students from STEM"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Miller<\/a>, Northwestern University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s OK \u2013 not everyone can do difficult math.\u201d<\/p>\n

Believing such messages may deter both boys and girls from later majoring in physical science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, according to a new national, longitudinal study<\/a> in the US published in Frontiers in Psychology.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents may need to hear that encountering difficulty during classwork is expected and normal,\u201d argued Lara Perez-Felkner<\/a>, a coauthor of the study and assistant professor of higher education and sociology at Florida State University.<\/p>\n

The study used data from 4,450 US adolescents who later entered college to probe why some students shun math-intensive fields. Believing that solving tough math problems requires innate abilities might discourage students, the researchers reasoned.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people believe they can do some mathematics, such as splitting a dinner bill with friends,\u201d said Samantha Nix, lead author and doctoral student at Florida State University. \u201cBut fewer believe they can do mathematics they perceive as \u2018difficult.’\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s almost silly if you think about it: you don\u2019t take classes to study topics you\u2019ve already mastered. Yet saying \u201cI can\u2019t do math\u201d is often accepted with head nods from others. Saying \u201cI can\u2019t do reading\u201d might instead be met with looks of disbelief or encouragement to work harder on learning language skills.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Naturally \u2018good at math\u2019 or working to master the subject?<\/span>
\nUS Department of Education<\/a>, CC BY<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What the national study found<\/h2>\n

High school students who believed they could master the toughest math concepts were more likely to major in math-intensive fields two years after graduation. Similar results were found for students who believed \u201cmost people can learn to be good at math\u201d \u2013 a belief psychologists call<\/a> a \u201cgrowth mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beliefs still mattered even after statistically correcting for some other factors such as demographics and science coursework. However, these controls were somewhat limited. Math grades were omitted, for instance.<\/p>\n

Performance on a difficult math test was used as a control. But students had \u201calmost no probability\u201d<\/a> of correctly answering the test\u2019s problems. This fact limits how well the test can measure individual differences in math performance, since everyone was bound to bomb it.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the encouraging results echo experiments<\/a> in actual classrooms<\/a> that better control for prior mathematics background.<\/p>\n

Why children need to learn to fail. Jessica Lahey, educator and writer of the upcoming book \u201cThe Gift of Failure,\u201d discusses the broader research on growth mindsets.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Equal benefits for boys and girls<\/h2>\n

Endorsing a \u201cgrowth mindset\u201d seemed to equally benefit boys and girls, the study found. Regardless of gender, these beliefs predicted later majoring in math-intensive fields. Catherine Good<\/a>, associate professor of psychology at Baruch College, told me this finding did not necessarily surprise her. She\u2019s also found<\/a> benefits of growth mindset messages for both genders.<\/p>\n

Gender gaps in beliefs were also modest. In 12th grade, boys rated their math abilities higher than girls did by 0.2 points on a 4-point scale, for instance. Accounting for gaps in self-perceived abilities did not explain the much larger gaps in majors. Men outnumber women 3-to-1 among college graduates in math-intensive STEM majors<\/a>, for instance.<\/p>\n

Other studies suggest nuance about whether beliefs concerning hard work contribute to the low numbers of women in STEM. Professor Good, for instance, told me that messages attaching great value to hard work may particularly benefit females facing \u201cidentity threat.\u201d Such threats include taking a math test described as diagnostic of math intelligence<\/a>, for example.<\/p>\n

Professors prizing innate \u201cgenius\u201d may also discourage women more than men, cautioned Andrei Cimpian<\/a>, associate professor of psychology at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. \u201cWomen\u2019s personal growth mindsets \u2013 although undoubtedly beneficial \u2013 may not be sufficient to buffer them against an environment that cherishes innate talent,\u201d he told me.<\/p>\n

Across 30 academic fields, philosophy and math professors were the most likely to say that success in their fields depends on innate talent, according to a recent study<\/a> Cimpian helped lead. Fewer women were found in fields that idolized \u201cbrilliance\u201d over hard work. This remained true even after statistically correcting for other factors such as the math performance of graduate school applicants<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Fewer women are found in \u201cgenius\u201d fields in which professors believe that success depends on innate talent, not hard work.<\/span>
\nAdapted from Figure 1 in Leslie, Cimpian, Meyer, and Freeland (2015).<\/span>, CC BY-NC-ND<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt is crucial to look not just at what\u2019s in people\u2019s heads but also at the ability beliefs that are \u2018in the air,\u2019\u201d Cimpian concluded. Teachers who believe that math intelligence is fixed can both comfort and demotivate students<\/a> with messages such as \u201cIt\u2019s ok \u2013 not everyone can be good at math,\u201d for instance.<\/p>\n

How interventions can help<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Brains are not \u2018hardwired\u2019 and static, but rather grow even in adulthood.<\/span>
\ndeadstar<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our brains develop even in adulthood<\/a>. Experiences such as learning to navigate in London<\/a> and even playing Tetris<\/a> can make important neural regions grow. Basic cognitive abilities can improve too<\/a>, even among students with exceptionally strong math backgrounds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Teaching this brain science to students may even help them learn. Struggling students’ grades improve when they hear that intelligence can grow with hard work, according to a new study<\/a> on \u201cmindset interventions\u201d involving 1,594 students in 13 high schools. In the study\u2019s growth mindset intervention, students spent roughly 45 minutes to read \u2013 and do two writing exercises related to \u2013 an article about the brain\u2019s ability to grow.<\/p>\n

Improvement in grades was roughly one-tenth of a letter grade \u2013 a modest, but still impressive, improvement considering the intervention lasted less than an hour.<\/p>\n

That study\u2019s authors argue the effects were \u201cnot magic\u201d<\/a> because they depend on opportunities such as having supportive teachers and peers. Mindset interventions \u201cencourage students to take advantage of such opportunities and may be ineffective if these opportunities are absent,\u201d the authors write.<\/p>\n

My research<\/a> has looked at how opportunities such as sketching engineering designs shape basic spatial skills such as mentally rotating objects. These skills are important<\/a> to success in math-intensive careers, yet often neglected<\/a> in education.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, but you can\u2019t teach those skills,\u201d teachers often say when I\u2019ve discussed my research with them. Contrary to such beliefs, I found<\/a> that 12 hours of spatial instruction improved students’ spatial skills and grades in a challenging calculus-based physics course. In fact, a quantitative review<\/a> of 217 related studies found training spatial skills was \u201ceffective, durable, and transferable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parents can help children learn spatial skills too. Susan Levine, professor of psychology at University of Chicago, talks about her research. Parents who use spatial words like \u2018circle\u2019 and \u2018tall\u2019 engage their children in spatial learning.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Teachers who continue to believe that \u201cyour basic intelligence can\u2019t change\u201d \u2013 despite evidence to the contrary \u2013 may rob students of opportunities to learn and grow. Computer science and math instructors who endorse such beliefs, for instance, report being more likely to advise<\/a> struggling undergraduates to drop their classes.<\/p>\n

We need to abandon dangerous ideas that some people just can\u2019t do math. Neuroscience and educational research flatly contradict such beliefs. As the new study suggests, valuing hard work over innate \u201cgenius\u201d might even spur students to tackle new challenges.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

David Miller<\/a> is Doctoral Student in Psychology at Northwestern University<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on The Conversation<\/a>.
\nRead the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Miller, Northwestern University \u201cIt\u2019s OK \u2013 not everyone can do difficult math.\u201d Believing such messages may deter both boys and girls from later majoring in physical science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, according to a new national, longitudinal study in the US published in Frontiers in Psychology. \u201cStudents may need to hear that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":7856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,36],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3755"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3755"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7857,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3755\/revisions\/7857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}