Lecturers and students in natural science programs perceive “talent” to mean asking quirky questions and being confident and playful, a study finds.

Men most frequently fall into that category, according to the researchers.

“Students who are well-prepared and meet learning objectives but do so in a way that their lecturers don’t find as exciting as when they are asked golden and quirky questions, are typically not recognized as talented. While appreciated as diligent, they are largely invisible,” says Henriette Holmegaard, an associate professor in the science education department and one of two researchers behind the study. The study appears in the book Science Identities (Springer, 2022).

According to the researchers, a sorting mechanism is at play during teaching, where students are divided into those with and without talent—a mechanism with a gender bias. This means that more female than male students are seen as lacking “the right stuff.”

“Male lecturers in the natural sciences seem to reproduce themselves when they privilege certain types of student behavior—because according to our research, this is what these perceptions of talent lead to. And this is regardless of whether the lecturers are any good at science or not.”

The researchers believe that a broader framework for lecture participation should be created to help more students spread their wings and realize their potential.

“We need to open our eyes to the fact that talent comes in many forms and expresses itself in a myriad of ways. Just because some students are quieter than others during lectures and don’t ask the most challenging questions doesn’t mean they lack talent. There could be a lot of potential that we’re just not seeing,” says Holmegaard.

According to Johannsen, the solution involves creating awareness and breaking any unfortunate patterns that may exist, while at the same time broadening the search when recruiting staff.

“In practical terms, one can begin by hiring people who are experienced at dealing with marginalization, in the belief that by doing so, one can create a better research and teaching environment with lower drop-out rates, better recruitment, and general improvements with regards to how things are run,” he says and concludes:

“However, managerial and political backup is needed. Especially if the aim is to increase the number of women and increase diversity more generally in the STEM fields. Since I’m hesitant individualizing talent with the students, I hesitate individualizing the problem of talent with the faculty. To me, the problem comes from the way university is ‘done.'”

Read the full article about gender bias in science by Maria Hornbek at Futurity.