Using Comics and Tweets to Raise Awareness About Gender Biases in STEM

Brief messages on social media have the potential to raise awareness about gender biases in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by reducing defensive reactions. A preregistered study with 436 college students examined the effect of reading tweets with comics versus text-only tweets about gender biases in STEM on perceptions about women in STEM. Participants completed a set of questionnaires before and after seeing a series of comics or text-only tweets. Women, but not men, felt less defensive regarding their views about women in STEM after viewing either type of post. In addition, after reading either type of post, participants viewed the climate for women in STEM as less positive. Finally, women in the comic condition thought that there were more women in STEM after reading the comics, but men’s perceptions did not change in either condition. Thus, the results provide preliminary evidence that comics about women in STEM may be effective at changing women’s perceptions about women in STEM. In addition, the text-only tweets were equally effective as the comics for decreasing women’s defensiveness and altering views about the climate for women in STEM.