How Women in Trades Experience Stereotype Threat
Many women in trades feel the need to prove themselves again and again, and researchers have attributed this as one response to stereotype threat. Another response to stereotype threat is to actually under-perform because part of you might believe it when they say women can’t do the work as well as men.
What is Stereotype Threat?
Stereotype threat has been defined as a situation where a person feels threatened by being negatively stereotyped, being treated stereo-typically, or conforming to a stereotype[1]. In the trades there may be perceptions of a negative stereotype about the ability of women to do the work, and some women might fear perpetuating that stereotype. These perceptions help explain the reason women might feel
“Women performed worse than men when they were told the test produced gender differences.”
the need to prove themselves[2]. Stereotype threat adversely impacts a sense of belonging, and the environment is experienced as less than inclusive. It can also undermine confidence in the workplace, and in some circumstances cause women to under-perform as a result.
Key Research
In 1997, Steven Spencer, Diane Quinn and Claude Steele researched the stereotype threat of women performing in math[3]. Participants consisted of both women and men college students who were good at math and saw themselves as good math students. A math test difficult enough to demonstrate under-performance was administered to all participants. Stereotype threat was varied by explaining to one half of the participants the test would show gender differences, and to the other half of participants the test would show no gender differences.
The researchers reported “Women performed worse than men when they were told the test produced gender differences”[4]. The difference was significant. The no gender differences group of women scored about the same as the men in their group, however the women in the gender differences group had scores that were 75% lower than scores of the men in their group, and more than 50% lower than the women in the no gender differences group.
How are women in trades impacted?
Women who are a minority in a group setting are more likely to feel they will be stereotyped[5] which then increases their level of stereotype threat and the assumption that they will need to exert more effort in a male-dominated group[6].
“The extra pressure sometimes causes women to make mistakes which the perpetuates the stereotype further and the pressure gets greater, feeling like a downward spiral.”
Research about women in trades does not always explicitly connect the experiences of women with stereotype threat, but it often reports that women feel the need to prove themselves on every worksite. There are also many instances of stereotypes being used to deter women from participating[7].
Examples in the research include the following experiences by women:
given easier or more ‘gender-suited tasks’[8].
belittled for not doing work the same way as a man[9].
told outright they are not capable of doing the work.
In my own research about apprenticeship classrooms, stereotype threat came up a few different ways. My participants experienced:
exclusion from group work with their male colleagues until they had proved their capability,
a decrease in their confidence level when faced with benevolent sexism,
the burden of needing to protect the perceptions people might have of all women in trades[10).
All these experiences add to the pressure of being able to do the work.
“Seeing these experiences for what they are can go a long way to checking one’s sanity and validating your experiential reality.”
The predicament that arises is stereotype threat may also lead to under-performance. The extra pressure can cause women to make mistakes which then perpetuates the stereotype further and the pressure gets greater, feeling like a downward spiral.
Stepping Forward
Seeing these experiences for what they are can go a long way to checking one’s sanity and validating your experiential reality. Women in trades can also support each other through:
Education – Understanding the social dynamics behind your experience.
Mentorship – Be a mentor or find a mentor. Someone to have conversations with about stereotype threat among other experiences is important.
Awareness - Call out stereotype threat (even to yourself) when you are concerned with perpetuating a stereotype, experience people using stereotypes to deter you, or you are experiencing benevolent sexism (when someone is very nice to you, but it still feels like they believe you can’t do it).
The best way to manage stereotype threat is to believe in yourself and your abilities, understanding that negative perceptions are not about you. They are about the implicit biases of others.
Notes:
Claude M. Steel, “A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance,” American Psychologist, 52, no.6 (June,1997).
Erin S. O’Leary et al., “Creating inclusive classrooms by engaging STEM faculty in culturally responsive teaching workshops,” International Journal of STEM Education, 7 no.1 (2020): 32-47.
As cited by Steel, 1997
Steel, 1997, p. 619.
L.L. Cohen & J.K. Swim, “The differential impact of gender ratios on women and men: Tokenism, self-confidence, and expectations,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21 no. 9 (1995): 876–884.
Jessi L. Smith et al., “When trying hard isn't natural: Women's belonging with and motivation for male dominated STEM fields as a s function of effort expenditure concerns,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39 no. 2 (2012): 131-143.
Donna Bridges et al., “Resilience for gender inclusion: Developing a model for women in male-dominated occupations,” Gender, Work, and Organisation, 30 no.1 (2023): 263-279.
Katherine MacIsaac & Jose Domene, “Learning the tricks of the trades: Women's experiences,” Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 48 no.1 (2014): 1-21.
Anne Jones et al., Perfect for a woman: Increasing the participation of women in the electrical trades. (Melbourne: Victoria University, 2017).
Lisa Soderquist Weatherby, “Interpreting Inclusivity in Male-dominated Apprenticeship Classrooms” (doctoral thesis, University of Liverpool, 2023).
