Even as gender roles in society are changing, a groundbreaking study from NYU, the University of Illinois and Princeton is showing that some stereotypes persist, especially with girls.
Lead researcher and author of the study Lin Bian says this research sheds light on how children view themselves. "We feel it's a very important question because if young kids have these beliefs since a very early age, then it will have lots of time and opportunities to affect-- their career aspirations,” Bian told NBC in an interview.
“[It’s] a very big problem for society, because women will be steered away from some of the certain areas that seems to require brilliance.” Bian said these disciplines include fields like physics, philosophy and mathematics.
Ahead of our “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly” report on the study, here is one of the stories used in the experiment that you can read to your own children at home to see how they respond.
First, read the story below to your child.
“There are lots of people at the place where I work. But there is one person who is really special. This person is really, really smart. This person figures out how to do things quickly and comes up with answers much faster and better than anyone else. This person is really, really smart.”
Now, show your child the photo below and ask them: “Who in this photo do you think is the person in the story?”
The full segment about this surprising study airs Sunday, July 9 at 7/6c during “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly” on NBC.