Researchers from the University of Missouri conducted a study to prove that the most common assumption “Men are superior to women in math” is wrong. The stereotype had most important methodological flaws, no scientific evidence and had utilized unacceptable statistical techniques. The hypothesis known as stereotype threat was initially published in Journal of Experimental Social Psychology in the year 1999. The hypothesis said that due to the stereotype that “Men are superior to women in math” females tend to develop a low self image in this field, which then leads to underachievement in mathematics.

In another article tackling about the same issue, LiveScience.com author Jeanna Bryner mentioned that, “Most overt discrimination against women in the sciences has been reduced or eliminated in recent decades through legal, academic, corporate and government measures. But a climate that is less than fully friendly to women remains, and its texture is often still so taken for granted that it tends to be invisible.”

The stereotype hypothesis was accepted by the policy makers and the psychologists all around the globe as the last word. They did not think that eliminating this stereotype will help in eliminating the gender gap also, says professor David Geary. However many programs were designed to address the issue, but even then the problem persisted with no appropriate solution to it. The researchers now believe that the incorrect problem was being addressed. Two professors from the University of Leeds scrutinized 20 prominent replications of the initial stereotype hypothesis study. The researchers then put forward that this study had major scientific flaws which also included improperly utilized statistical techniques and lack of a male control cluster.

It is astonishing to note that the researchers had not subjected the males to similar experimental manipulations as female participants. It is much reasonable to imagine that even men would not have done well if they were told “men usually perform worse on this test”. When the researchers adjusted the results based on this and many other scientific factors, they found no or little imperative stereotype hypothesis effect. Geary says that the findings really irritated him, because science is something when they are trying to find what the issues are. The actual fact is that there is a major disproportionate figure of men in the top levels of mathematics, technology, science and engineering. There is much requirement of women to succeed in these areas for the improvement of our future and economy.