Brief exposure to charismatic career women inspires female students to pursue same field

(Southern Methodist University) A simple, low-cost experiment to encourage women to enter the male-dominated field of economics was surprisingly effective, says economist Danila Serra, Southern Methodist University, Dallas. Top female college students were inspired to pursue economics when exposed very briefly to charismatic, successful women in the field, says co-author Serra. The successful results suggest that exposing young women to an inspiring female role model could spark similar interventions in other male-dominated fields of study to enhance gender diversity.

from EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science http://ift.tt/2n47Bjk