- Because of cultural stereotypes regarding intelligence, academic fields that prize talent over hard work are more likely to support white men that they see as having innate “potential”
- In contrast, minorities perceived as lacking natural brilliance are seen as being inherently less suited for high-level work in these areas.
- This is why field-specific ability scores predict underrepresentation of women and African-American scholars, but not Asian-Americans (who are subject to a different set of stereotypes pertaining to their ‘model minority’ status)


Cultural Stereotypes and Field-Specific Ability Beliefs

- In academic disciplines where field-specific ability beliefs are more prevalent, we see a lower percentage of women holding PHDs.
- Field-specific ability beliefs are also associated with underrepresentation of African-Americans.
- This results apply to fields in both STEM and the humanities.



New York University

The extent to which those in different fields of study value some measure of innate aptitude or fixed intelligence and believe it is required for success in their respective fields.


Field-specific Ability Beliefs

Leslie, S. J., Cimpian, A., Meyer, M., & Freeland, E. (2015). Expectations of brilliance underlie gender distributions across academic disciplines. Science, 347(6219), 262-265.


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