‘Women feel wary when outnumbered by men'

Gender ratio affects their performance in math & science, says new study

WASHINGTON: Women feel threatened when outnumbered by the opposite sex, such as in math, science and engineering classrooms, while men enjoy being in a roomful of women, a study has said.

“Walking into a situation in which you sense the possibility of being ostracised or isolated can be quite threatening,” said the study, which looked at the effect of so-called situational cues, such as being outnumbered, on women’s performance in math, science and engineering courses.

The gender ratio in those classes is “approximately three men to every one woman,” said the study, led by Mary Murphy, a psychologist at Stanford University in California. Published in the October issue of Psychological Science, the study monitored the reactions of a group of advanced students in traditionally male-dominated fields while they watched videos depicting a conference.

In one of the videos, men outnumbered women, while in the other the sexes were equally represented. The women’s heart rates accelerated and perspiration increased when they watched the video in which their gender was outnumbered. They also reported “less desire to participate in the conference,” the study showed.