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Effect of Math-Gender Stereotype 

Threat on Girl Students

Shujuan Song,
1 
Na Jiang,

1
 Lingkai Ji

2
 

 
1. Huanggang Normal University, Huanggang 438000, Hubei, China 

2. Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, Hubei, China 

 

Abstract: To investigate whether growth mindset training can weaken 

the effect of math-gender stereotype threat on girl students, this study 
undertook experimental intervention in a group of grade-11 girl students 

and found that: (i) Mindsets can moderate the effect of math-gender 
stereotype threat. Girls with a growth mindset are less likely to be 

affected by math-gender stereotype threat compared with those with a 

fixed mindset. (ii) Growth mindset training for girls with a fixed mindset 
can effectively reduce the effect of math-gender stereotype threat on 

their math performance. 

Best Evidence in Chinese Education 2022; 12(2):1629-1634. 

Doi: 10.15354/bece.22.ab012 

How to Cite: Song, S., Jiang, N., & Ji, L. (2022). Growth mindset training and the 

effect of math-gender stereotype threat on girl students. Best Evidence in Chinese 

Education, 12(2):1629-1634. 

Keywords: Mindset, Growth Mindset Training, Math-gender Stereotype, Stereotype Threat 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Song et al. (Hubei). Math-Gender Stereotype Threat on Girl Students. 

BECE, Vol.12, No.2, 2022 1630 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Correspondence to: Shujuan Song, Huanggang Normal University, Huanggang 438000, Hubei, China. E-mail: 
9810111@qq.com 

Conflict of Interests: None. 
 

© 2022 Insights Publisher. All rights reserved. 

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the 

Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 License 

(http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of 

the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed by the Insights Publisher. 

mailto:9810111@qq.com
http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/


Song et al. (Hubei). Math-Gender Stereotype Threat on Girl Students. 

BECE, Vol.12, No. 2, 2022 1631 

 

Raising Questions 

There have been two contrasting attitudes towards the malleability of individual traits 

such as intelligence and personalities. One is named the “fixed mindset,” which views 

personal traits as innate and unchangeable; the other is referred to as the “growth mind-

set,” which believes that some basic personal qualities are in constant development, and 

that individual ability improves as the result of persistent efforts. Those who hold intel-

lectual ability to be an unchangeable quality are more prone to apprehension about fail-

ure, mistake, and criticism, whilst those with the growth mindset tend to see failures as 

opportunities for learning and personal improvement and are more likely to carry on 

being positive and resilient in subsequent tasks.  

The math-gender stereotype is a belief that women have weaker mathematical 

ability than men. Prior research discovered that individuals who are the targets of a de-

valuing group stereotype experience extra pressure which may depress their perfor-

mance. Such an experience is referred to as the “stereotype threat.” Will women with 

the growth mindset feel less anxiety when facing the math-gender stereotype, thus less 

susceptible to its threat, as they hold that individual competencies are consistently de-

veloping and malleable? Since women with the fixed mindset believe that individual 

abilities are innate and hard to change, are they more severely affected by math-gender 

stereotype threat? Will growth mindset training mitigate the effect of math-gender ste-

reotype threat on girl students? These are the questions to be addressed in this article. 

Study 1: How Do Mindsets Influence the Effect of 

Math-Gender Stereotype Threat on Girl Students? 

Research Design 

Subjects 

This study selected 202 girl students from high achieving classes in three county-level 

senior secondary schools and investigated their mindsets and math ability.   

Research Tools 

 Growth Mindset Scale (GMS) developed by Dweck was employed as a measure, 

which comprised 20 items. The more highly the student scores, the stronger her 

disposition towards the growth mindset. 

 The math test paper was prepared by a grade-11 math teacher. It was relatively 

difficult, containing 15 objective test items. The total score was 20 points, and stu-

dents had 25 minutes to complete the test. 

Procedure 



Song et al. (Hubei). Math-Gender Stereotype Threat on Girl Students. 

BECE, Vol.12, No. 2, 2022 1632 

 

The investigation on the mindsets of the 202 girls was carried out in their evening self-

study session. They were divided into the stereotype threat group and the non-threat 

group. Each group consisted of 101 students. The stereotype threat group were asked to 

read a piece of writing first to activate their awareness of the math-gender stereotype 

before they started to work on the math test, whereas the control group took the test 

straightaway without the extra reading. 

Research Results  

The Analysis of the Effect of Math-Gender Stereotype 

Threat on Math Performance 

The math test scores the two groups got showed that the performance of the girls in the 

stereotype threat condition is lower than that of girls in the control condition (t = 2.46, p 

< 0.05), indicating that the math-gender stereotype threat has a detrimental effect on 

girls’ math performance. 

The Moderating Effect of Student Mindsets  

The study established an interactive regression model, in which the math test score was 

the dependent variable, and the stereotype condition (the stereotype threat condition 

was coded as 1; the control condition as 0) and the type of mindset were independent 

variables. According to the Bootstrap analysis results (n= 5000, the confidence coeffi-

cient = 95%), the overall effect of the regression model is significant (R
2

adj = 0.097, F(3, 

190) = 6.799, p = 0.0002). The stereotype threat group scored lower than the control 

group; the math-gender stereotype imposed a depressing effect on math test scores of 

girl students (t = - 2. 2584, p < 0. 05; confidence intervals do not contain 0). The growth 

mindset could positively predict math performance (t = 2.2817, p < 0.01; confidence 

intervals do not contain 0); girls with stronger disposition towards the growth mindset 

got higher math test scores. The coefficient of the product of the stereotype threat con-

dition and the mindset is significant (t = 2.3488, p < 0.05; confidence intervals do not 

contain 0), indicating that the mindset had a moderating effect on the impact of the ste-

reotype threat condition on the math test scores. 

Study 2: The Dampening Effect of Growth Mindset 

Training on the Math-Gender Stereotype Threat 

Research Design 

Subjects 

This study recruited 671 grade-11 girl students of the science track from two county-

level key high schools who would be measured by the Growth Mindset Scale and 



Song et al. (Hubei). Math-Gender Stereotype Threat on Girl Students. 

BECE, Vol.12, No. 2, 2022 1633 

 

ranked by the scores they got. A total of 181 girls who scored below the 27
th
 percentiles 

were selected to participate in the experiment as students with the fixed mindset. 

Research Tools 

The Growth Mindset Scale, the math test paper, and growth mindset training module 

PPT were used in the experiment. 

Procedure 

The 181 participants were randomly divided into the mindset training group and the 

non-training group. Each of the two groups was then subdivided into the stereotype 

threat group and non-threat group, and thereby four subgroups were established: the 

mindset training* stereotype threat group of 46 students; the mindset training* non-

threat group of 45; non-training* stereotype threat group of 45; non-training* non-threat 

group of 45. After the test, the numbers of questionnaires retrieved from the four groups 

were 44, 43, 43, and 42, respectively. 

In an evening self-study session, growth mindset training was administered to 

the mindset training group, while the non-training group performed self-study as usual. 

When the training finished, the stereotype threat group were requested to read a piece of 

writing to activate their awareness of math-gender stereotype (as in Study 1). After that, 

all students were given 25 minutes to complete the math test.  

Research Results 

To examine the differences in math test scores among the four groups, a 2 × 2 ANOVA 

was undertaken, using the math test score as dependent variable, and the mindset train-

ing condition and the stereotype threat condition as independent variables. The results 

showed that the overall effect of growth mindset training was significant (F(1.168) = 

41.747, p = 0.000), and that the interaction between the mindset training and the stereo-

type threat conditions was also significant (F(1.168) = 4.075, p = 0.045). The results of 

simple effects test demonstrated that the difference between the math test scores under 

the stereotype threat condition and those under the non-threat condition was insignifi-

cant (p = 0.725) among girls having received growth mindset training, but significant (p 

= 0.014) among girls without growth mindset training. The results of the experiment 

revealed that growth mindset training could effectively weaken the effect of the math-

gender stereotype threat on girl students and considerably improve their math perfor-

mance. 

Discussions 

The Impact of Mindsets on the Effect of the Math-

Gender Stereotype Threat 



Song et al. (Hubei). Math-Gender Stereotype Threat on Girl Students. 

BECE, Vol.12, No. 2, 2022 1634 

 

The math-gender stereotype cannot considerably and adversely affect girl students with 

a growth mindset, even when they are in the situation where the math-gender stereotype 

is activated. Nevertheless, it can impose a significant threatening effect on girls with a 

fixed mindset especially when they are made sensitive to the stereotype; because they 

believe that individual competences are inborn, thus unallowable.  

The Role of Growth Mindset Training in Mitigating the 

Detrimental Effect of the Math-Gender Stereotype 

Threat 

Deliberate, pertinent training can effectively develop students’ growth mindset. The 

math performance of girls who have received growth mindset training is unexceptional-

ly, significantly better than that of those without such experience, which confirms that 

growth mindset training is not only effective in reducing the negative effect of the 

math-gender stereotype threat but can also improve math achievement of every girl. 

Particularly for girls with a fixed mindset, growth mindset training has a significant 

dampening effect on the math-gender stereotype threat and is extremely beneficial for 

their math performance progress. 
 

 

The Chinese version of this article has been published in Journal of Educational Research and 

Experiment, 2022(4):108-112. The English version has been authorized for being publication in 

BECE by the author(s) and the Chinese journal. 

 

宋淑娟, 姜娜, & 纪凌开. 成长型思维训练对女生数学-性别刻板印象威胁效应的影响. 教育研

究与实验, 2022(4):108-112. 

 

 

Received: 06 October 2022 

Revised: 29 October 2022 

Accepted: 08 November 2022 

 

 

 

 

 


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