Are Men Better At Science? They Think So, According To This Study

Apr 09, 2018 by apost team

Some fields are undeniably dominated by men. Luckily, society is aware of these sexist boundaries and are working to level the grounds. However, despite all of our advancements in equality, one study reveals that men still think they are superior.

Advances in Physiology Education recently published this study that delved deeper into the male psyche in classroom settings. The results found that male students ranked themselves much higher in their intelligence compared to females.
 

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For example, a male student with average grades viewed himself as better than 66% of his class, while the female with the same grades only viewed herself as superior to 54% of her peers.

This difference in the male ego is even more accentuated when the students were asked to compare themselves to other individuals. Men were over 3 times more likely than women to rate themselves as more intelligent than classmates they've worked closely with before.

This research is particularly important because the data was collected in a biology classroom. This is one of the only scientific fields where females actually overpower males.
 

Although the study was not large, it still offers valuable insight into why men dominate important scientific fields. Their cockiness may have a negative impact on female students which makes them more unsure of their own abilities in pursuing their field and behaving in ways that make them more likely to succeed.

This research involved 202 participants in an advanced physiology class. The classroom model is focused on lots of participation, mainly in discussions within small groups. In this particular class, 130 students were female, 70 were male, and 2 identified as another category.

 

The researchers asked the students how they rated the performance of other students when comparing their own abilities to their peers, and both parties had similar methods. Students considered who answered questions correctly and who understood the lessons the best.

These results lead researchers to believe that encouraging women to speak more could improve their own confidence and boost their value to their peers. Then maybe more women would feel valuable enough to contribute to these important scientific fields.
 

Since these findings are collected from a small pool, the researchers urge others to avoid coming to solid conclusions before more widespread data can be collected from other schools in varying disciplines.

Even still, this research is an important step forward in eliminating gender gaps and striving for equality. Half of our population is women, and they have valuable thoughts that should be heard, especially in the sciences. It's in our best interest to ensure every person has an equal opportunity to advance our understanding of the world.

Know anybody who is a science geek? Make sure all your friends know how smart they are with the results of this study.