Brief Research Report : Teachers’ Gender-Differentiated Attributions (Journal Article)

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Abstract: Teachers play a fundamental role in guaranteeing an inclusive teaching practice using Educational Robotics (ER). However, they may hold gender-differentiated views of their students’ academic abilities and aptitudes in ER. This quasi-experimental test investigated gender-differentiated attributions and behavioral intentions of N = 158 Italian learning support teachers (LST) answering a questionnaire at the end of a post-graduate ER course. Participants read one of two vignettes regarding a student failing an ER activity in class: − (1) a boy; or (2) a girl. Then participants answered items based on measures that assessed their gender stereotypes, attributions for the child’s failure, and hypothetical intentions to use ER with the same child. Results of moderation analyses indicated that the failure of the depicted girl was attributed to internal, stable and uncontrollable causes (i.e., low abilities in ER) to a greater extent than the same failure of the depicted boy, among LST with high levels of gender stereotypes. Furthermore, LST with high levels of gender stereotypes declared less intention to use ER with the depicted girl as compared with the depicted boy.