A short values writing task narrowed the gender gap in college physics.

The study

1. 01

   Who took part

   399 students (283 men and 116 women) in a 15-week physics course at a US university. The course was for students planning to major in science, technology, engineering or maths.

2. 02

   What they did

   Students wrote for about 15 minutes in week 1 and again in week 4. Students in one group picked their most important values from a list and wrote about why they mattered. The other group picked their least important values and wrote about why others might find them important.

3. 03

   What happened

   Men scored higher on exams than women in the other group, but that gap was much smaller after the writing. Women who wrote about their values earned more B grades, and on a physics concept test their gains matched men's. Men's exam scores fell unexpectedly.

What the study found

1. Helped

   Women who wrote about their most important values scored higher on exams, while men's scores fell.

   • Action: Clarify what matters to youtested
   • Rule: Choose it yourselfused

   Randomised trial of 399 college students in a physics course · vs women who wrote about their least important values · behaviour was recorded

2. Helped

   Women who wrote about their most important values gained as much as men on a physics concept test.

   • Action: Clarify what matters to youtested
   • Rule: Choose it yourselfused

   Randomised trial of 399 college students in a physics course · vs women who wrote about their least important values · behaviour was recorded

Source