Female Role Models and Girls' Sense of Fit in Science: Article Review

The purpose of the analyses was to examine if selecting and concisely writing about a desired female role model enhances girls' perception of fit in science above and beyond an acquaintance with female role models.

The researcher hypothesized that identifying and selecting a fancied role model and writing a narrative on the reasons she is desired can increase girls' perception of fit above and beyond exposure to female role models

The chance to select and write concerning a desired role model increased girls' science results in an outreach initiative where they were exposed to several female role models. Girls that joined a science outreach event where they involved in consecutive seminars organized by female scientists demonstrated a considerable improvement in sense of fit in science when they were motivated to pick and concisely write about a preferred workshop leader (O'Brien et al., 2016). In comparison, girls that were involved in the outreach event, but were not driven to pick and write regarding a desired workshop leader, did not experience an improvement in sense of fit.