Gender Bias AO3

• -Biological vs Social Explanations

  One limitation is that gender differences are often presented as fixed and enduring when they are not. Maccoby and Jacklin presented the findings of several gender studies which concluded that girls have superior verbal ability whereas boys have better spatial ability. Maccoby and Jacklin suggested that these differences are "hardwired" into the brain before birth. Such findings become widely reported and seen as facts.
• -Biological vs Social Explanations 2

  Joel used brain scanning and found no such gender differences in brain structure or processing. It is possible that the data from Maccoby and Jacklin was popularised because it fitted existing stereotypes of girls as 'speakers' and boys as 'doers.This suggests that we should be wary of accepting research findings as biological facts when they might be explained better as social stereotypes.
• +Biological vs Social Explanations 3

  However, this does not mean that psychologists should avoid studying possible gender differences in the brain. For instance, research by Ingalhalikar suggests that the popular social stereotype that females are better at multitasking may have some biological truth to it. It seems that a woman's brain may benefit from better connections between the right and the left hemisphere than in a man's brain.

  This suggests that there may be biological differences but we still should be wary of exaggerating the effect they may have on behaviour.
• -Sexism in Research

  Another limitation is that gender bias promotes sexism in the research process. Women remain underrepresented in university departments, particularly in science.

  Although psychology's undergraduate intake is mainly female, lecturers in psychology departments are more likely to be male (Murphy).
• -Sexism in Research 2

  This means research is more likely to be conducted by males and this may disadvantage female participants. For example, a male researcher may expect females to be irrational and unable to complete complex tasks (Nicolson) and such expectations are likely to mean that female participants underperform in research studies. This means that the institutional structures and methods of psychology may produce findings that are gender-biased.
• -Gender Biased Research

  A further limitation is that research challenging gender biases may not be published. Formanowicz analysed more than 1000 articles relating to gender bias, published over eight years. They found that research on gender bias is funded less often and is published by less prestigious journals. The consequence of this is that fewer scholars become aware of it or apply it within their own work.
• -Gender Biased Research 2

  The researchers argued that this still held true when gender bias was compared with other forms of bias, such as ethnic bias, and when other factors were controlled, such as the gender of the author and the methodology used.

  This suggests that gender bias in psychological research may not be taken as seriously as other forms of bias.
• Extra Eval

  Gender-biased research may create misleading assumptions about female behaviour, fail to challenge negative stereotypes and validate discriminatory practices. In any domain in which men set the standard of normalcy, as Tavris puts it, 'it becomes normal for women to feel abnormal'. Thus, gender bias in research is not just a methodological problem but may have damaging consequences which affect the lives and prospects of real women.
• Extra Eval

  Many modern researchers now recognise the effect their own values and assumptions have on the nature of their work (reflexivity). Rather than seeing such bias as a problem that may threaten the objective status of their work, they embrace it as a crucial aspect of the research process. For instance, in their study of the lack of women in executive positions in accountancy firms, Dambrin and Lambert include reflection on how their gender-related experiences influence their reading of events.