Spell It: How pretend play is changing the way girls view science
We learn that girls persevered much more when they role-played as famous scientists
Pretend play is often considered one of the best ways for children to learn about the world and their place in it. But recent research has revealed that it’s so effective, it could help girls persist at science!
Click start to play today’s Spell It, where we learn how the ‘crisis’ of underrepresentation of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) fields begins at a young age.
Even though progress has been made, research conducted by the United Nations shows that women in STEM publish less, are paid less for research, and don’t progress as far in their careers as men. Women make up just 42 per cent of the total number of science professionals.
The issue may be rooted in how girls approach STEM fields at a young age. A 2014 study in the journal Psychological Bulletin found that despite girls often earning higher grades than boys in science and maths, they become less interested in science as they progress through childhood.
Stereotypes also set in by the time kids reach six years old. A January 2017 study published in the journal Science found that by age six, girls begin to believe that boys are more likely to be “really, really smart”. Researchers also found their belief extending to their behaviours. Both boys and girls were equally likely to be interested in playing a game for children who “try really, really hard”, but girls were less keen than boys on playing a game that was described as being for children who are “really, really smart”.
In a new study from the American universities Yale, Duke and the University of Chicago, published in September 2022 in the journal Psychological Science, scientists decided to examine whether pretending to be a talented female scientist could encourage young girls to persevere in science-based tasks.
Their study involved 240 children between the ages of four and seven. The researchers randomly assigned them to one of three conditions, before playing a science-based game with them. In the first condition, the kids were told they were going to be scientists and they would play a science game. In the second ‘exposure’ condition, they shared information about a specific scientist before starting the game – English physicist Isaac Newton for boys and Polish-French physicist and chemist Marie Curie for girls. And in the last ‘role-play’ condition, they added one more step – the children were asked to pretend to be the scientist while playing the game. For instance, researchers would ask, “What’s your prediction, Dr Isaac?” while playing.
The results were remarkable. The study found that girls and boys tended to be equally good at the game – they guessed correctly 75 per cent of the time. However, the boys persisted longer in the game. But when girls pretended to be a real scientist, the gap became smaller. And those who role-played persisted just as well as the boys did. The study showed that it wasn’t enough for girls to learn about a female scientist to close the gap – they had to pretend to actually be one. For boys, role-playing made no difference to the results.
So parents, consider swapping your daughter’s princess dress and tiara with a lab coat sometimes. Role-playing could be a simple, inexpensive way to challenge young girls’ beliefs that boys are smarter than them.
What do you think of this study? Play today’s Spell It and tell us at games@gulfnews.com.