When an academic culture based on self-enhancement values undermines female students’ sense of belonging, self-efficacy, and academic choices

Cristina Aelenei (1) , Delphine Martinot (2) , Alyson Sicard (2) , Céline Darnon (2)

1 LPS (URP_4471) - Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale : contextes et régulation
2 LAPSCO - Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale et Cognitive

Although overall women are better represented in higher education than men, women's psychological experience in various academic contexts is qualified by a decreased sense of belonging and academic self-efficacy, including in fields where they are not targeted by a negative stereotype. To clarify this phenomenon, we develop the hypothesis of a mismatch between female students' values and the values associated with success in the increasingly selective realm of higher education. We argue that, whatever the fields of study, these values are self-enhancement values (competitiveness, self-affirmation, dominance). Three studies showed that when success was depicted in terms of self-enhancement values, women-but not men-expressed a lower sense of belonging, had lower self-efficacy and were less likely to pursue a given academic opportunity both in STEM and non-STEM fields of study. These effects did not appear in an academic context depicting success as being rooted in self-transcendence values (helpfulness, cooperation, benevolence).

Mots clés: Higher education; Gendered values; Sense of belonging; Academic self-efficacy; Academic choices

Domaines: Psychologie; Etudes sur le genre

Cristina Aelenei, Delphine Martinot, Alyson Sicard, Céline Darnon. When an academic culture based on self-enhancement values undermines female students’ sense of belonging, self-efficacy, and academic choices. Journal of Social Psychology, 2020, 160 (3), pp.373-389. ⟨10.1080/00224545.2019.1675576⟩. ⟨hal-02983714⟩