There’s new evidence that gender stereotypes of scientists are changing. Researchers looked at drawings of scientists made by more than 20,000 children and found that 28 percent drew their scientist as a woman. That’s a dramatic increase from the .6 percent researchers saw 50 years ago, but there’s still room for growth.
“The tendency to draw male scientists did significantly increase during elementary school and middle school,” said David Miller, a graduate student at Northwestern University and lead author of the new study.
“So, I think teachers and parents and teachers should be aware that elementary school and middle school are critical periods in which children start forming stereotypes about scientists,” he said.