"In the United States, girls and boys have similar science achievement, yet fewer girls aspire to science careers than boys. This paradox emerges in middle school, when peers begin to play a stronger role in shaping adolescent identities."
Robin Gauthier, Patricia Wonch Hill, and Julia McQuillan used data from a single middle school and theories of gender, identity, and social distance to explore how friendship patterns might influence this gender and science paradox. Their findings suggest that friendship dynamics contribute to gendered patterns in science career aspirations.
The study, co-authored with Amy Spiegel and Judy Diamond of the University of Nebraska, was published in Social Sciences, Volume 6.
