Why do stereotypes in science persist?

By 2025-05-09T05:33:00

A cartoon old white male scientist holding up drawings of scientists from a range of backgrounds

Source: Composite image: © The img and © Meilun; both Shutterstock

RSC education coordinator, Rebecca Laye explores why the stereotype of a ‘typical’ scientist is alive and well in 2025

In 1957 anthropologists sought to discover what high school students would draw if they asked them to create an image of a ‘typical’ scientist. The result was a white man wearing glasses and a white laboratory coat, surrounded by scientific equipment. RSC education coordinator, Rebecca Laye shares their disappointment when, almost 70 years later, they conducted the same test and only five out of 200 educators who took part in the activity drew women.

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