(July 28, 2015) Researchers at the Harvard Graduate School
of Education find that not only many teen boys but many teen girls and some
parents appear to have biases against teen girls as leaders.
Making Caring Common (MCC), a project of the Harvard
Graduate School of Education, today released new research that suggests that
many teen boys and teen girls — and some of their parents — have biases against
teen girls as leaders. These biases could be powerful barriers to leadership
for a generation of teen girls with historically high levels of education who
are key to closing our nation’s gender gap in leadership. The report also
suggests that much can be done to prevent and reduce gender biases in children.
Titled Leaning Out: Teen Girls and Leadership Biases, the
research report assesses the explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious)
biases of teen girls, teen boys, and parents with regard to gender and
leadership. Findings suggest that many teen boys and teen girls have biases
against female leaders in powerful professions such as politics, that many teen
girls have biases against other teen girls as leaders, and that many teens
perceive their peers as biased against female leaders. Further, the research
suggests that some mothers have implicit biases against teen girls as leaders.
“Our study points to insidious bias against girls as leaders
that comes from many sources” said Richard Weissbourd, senior lecturer at the
Harvard Graduate School of Education and co-director of Making Caring Common.
“Bias can be a powerful — and invisible — barrier to teen girls’ leadership.
Yet parents and teachers can do a great deal to stem these biases and help
children manage them.”
Making Caring Common conducted the research during the
2014–15 school year, including a survey of almost 20,000 students from a
diverse range of 59 middle and high schools, smaller follow-up surveys, and a
series of focus groups. More information about the research methodology can be found
in the full report at www.makingcaringcommon.org.