Subtle Linguistic Cues Increase Girls’ Engagement in Science

Girls who heard science described as an action were less likely to stop playing a science game than girls who heard science described as an identity.

• In study 1, 60% of girls in the be-scientists group chose to stop participating in the science game after experiencing setbacks. Only 32% of girls in the do-science group chose to stop participating after experiencing setbacks.
• In study 2, girls in the do-science group were 56% less likely to stop the science game than girls in the be-scientists group.
• In study 3, girls in the do-science group completed more rounds of the science game than girls in the be-scientists condition. These effects—participation in the do-science group being associated with greater persistence in science—increased in older groups of girl participants.
• In study 4, there were no statistically significant results.

The evidence suggests that the reverse is true of boys across all age groups studied (4-9 years old).

• In some of the trials, boys in the be-scientists group were more likely to persist in playing the science game than boys in the do-science group.
• In other trials, the subtle shift between using “action” and “identity” language to describe science had no impact on whether boys chose to continue playing the science game.

These effects may be particular to games that are described to children as science games and may not apply when games are described to children as non-science games.

Based on these results, the researchers suspect that identity-based language for describing science may decrease girls’ willingness to engage in science if they have reason to believe that it is an identity category that they may have difficulty becoming a member of—whether based on the social stereotypes they have been exposed to, or based on their beliefs about their own scientific abilities. These results indicate that making the subtle linguistic shift from describing science as an identity to describing science as an action may encourage young girls’ willingness to continue engaging in scientific endeavors.

This study comprised four experimental trials (total sample size = 501) conducted on children aged 4-9 years old in New York City. The study targeted children in this age bracket because that is a time when children are highly influenced by linguistic cues and begin to develop concepts about science and their scientific capabilities.

The participants were recruited through “Pre-K for All” programs, local public schools, children’s museums, and campus laboratories. The purpose of the study was to test the effects of subtle linguistic shifts on young children via science-related games, particularly focusing on whether “identity” language (e.g. being a “scientist” as an identity that people have) or “action” language (e.g. “science” as an action that people do) would yield different effects. In each of the four experiments, participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups completing a science game. One group heard language that described science as an identity (the “be-scientists” condition) and the other group heard language that described science as an activity (the “do-science” condition).

In Study 1, children were asked to identify smells of four mystery substances, with two easy-to-identify smells and two hard-to-identify smells. The latter would give them a sense of experiencing setbacks in scientific endeavors. After these four questions, the children were allowed to choose whether they wanted to continue playing the game, with the possibility of continuing for up to 10 additional rounds. The correct answer to each round was not revealed until the children finished all of the rounds. The number of additional rounds that the children decided to participate in (0-10) was interpreted as an indication of their willingness to continue engaging in scientific endeavors after experiencing setbacks in science.

In Study 2, the same experimental procedure was replicated with a different game, in which children were asked to predict whether an object would sink or float in water. Children were allowed to continue for as many additional rounds as they wished.

In Study 3, the same procedures and conditions were repeated as in as Study 1. However, the interaction of three variables—age, gender, and language group—were measured. 

In study 4, children were asked to guess what types of food a particular animal would eat. The game of predicting an animal’s food was described as a “caring” game instead of a “scientific” game. Children were allowed to continue for up to 10 additional trials. The aim of Study 4’s procedure was to test whether the effects of the subtle shifts in linguistic cues differed for scientific versus non-scientific activities.