College Students’ Stereotyped Beliefs

Abstract

Over recent years, socio-political discourse has been full of language aimed at reaching gender equality. This is a complex goal that should address the underlying bases of inequality—gender stereotypes that continue to legitimize unequal consideration and treatment. It is also a reality that universities are not exempt from. The objective of this study was to analyze university students’ stereotyped beliefs and look at the differences based on self-identified gender and branch of knowledge. The analysis looked at a sample of 3433 university students (67.9% women), aged between 17 and 56 (M = 18.95; SD = 2.35) and reported low rates of prevalence of stereotyped beliefs, with significantly higher means in men and in engineering students. The survival of gender stereotypes in a population who were born and raised in a legally egalitarian society points to the importance of education programs aimed at university teachers that would give them the capacity to incorporate a gender perspective in all disciplines, especially those disciplines reporting greater adherence to stereotyped beliefs.

Keywords

• stereotype
• gender roles
• gender equality
• university students
• education