New Study Posits that Female Instructors May Help Keep Females in STEM Fields

A new study released by UMass Amherst discussed in Inside Higher Ed provides evidence that females (and to a lesser degree, males) in STEM courses such as introductory calculus respond better to female than male instructors.  Female students tended to answer notably more general questions in class and to stay after class to ask questions of female instructors than they did with male instructors.  Nilanjana Dasgupta, associate professor of psychology at UMass, lead author of the study, opines that "women who are exposed to women doing math and science successfully end up with "stereotype inoculation" in which they gain confidence."  Therefore, having enough female instructors in the mix would be an important factor in increasing student success.  http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/03/03/study_suggests_role_of_role_models_in_encouraging_female_undergraduates_in_math_and_science