Using draw a person tasks to measure children’s assigned Gender Ability Beliefs

Massey, Simon ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0550-0613 (2024) Using draw a person tasks to measure children’s assigned Gender Ability Beliefs. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 27 (6). pp. 693-705. ISSN 1364-5579

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Abstract

The UK-based article develops a quantitative method for measuring 8–9-year-old children’s Gender Ability Beliefs through drawings, assessing the reliability and validity of the measure and its association with respondents’ self-reported gender. The measure, originally used in the US by Beilock et al. (2010), required respondents to draw two pictures: one of someone good at mathematics and another good at reading. They also had to show whether each drawing was of a male or female by ticking a provided box. Findings indicate children are more likely to draw someone of the same assigned gender as their own for both skillsets. Male respondents were found to be more likely to indicate more traditional views in males being good at mathematics and females good at reading. The article concludes that drawings can be used as quantitative self-completion methods with child respondents, whilst presenting evidence to consider how we do so with concepts like gender that require validity and can be used internationally.