Rebecca Bigler is a developmental psychologist known for research on social stereotyping (based on gender or race), prejudice, and children's perceptions of discrimination. Bigler is Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Bigler advocates for use of gender-neutral language and endorses use of ze as a personal pronoun to replace he/she and hir to replace his/her. (This convention is respected throughout this article.) Bigler is a recognized teacher of psychology and recipient of numerous teaching awards from the University of Texas at Austin, including the Raymond Dickson Centennial Endowed Teaching Fellowship award in 2011. Bigler is well known as an advocate against same-sex schooling. Ze argues that segregation based on sex or any other social characteristic is likely to increase prejudice based on that characteristic. Biography Bigler received a B.A. degree at Oberlin College in 1986. Ze attended graduate school at Pennsylvania State University where ze began conducting research on gender schemata and internalized sexualization under the supervision of Lynn Liben. Bigler obtained a master's degree in 1988 and a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology in 1991. With Liben, Bigler conducted widely cited research on gender differentiation in development, social stereotyping and prejudice. Liben and Bigler also co-edited the 2014 volume The Role of Gender in Educational Contexts and Outcomes. Bigler joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin in 1991. Currently, Bigler is the executive director of the American Council for Coeducational Schooling. Research Bigler's research program has focuses on the development of stereotyped attitudes associated with gender and race/ethnicity. Ze is known for work highlighting the impact of gender stereotypes on children's development, especially for girls. Bigler aims to discover how and when children develop stereotyped views, and what external and internal observations impact children and their thinking. Bigler and hir former student Sarah McKenney express concerns about girls' limited choices in Halloween costumes, and the tendency for girls' clothing and toys to promote the value of "being hot and sexy." Their research has shown that adolescent girls who internalize beliefs about the importance of being sexually attractive to boys show increased rates of body surveillance and body shaming and perform worse in school and on standardized test scores than girls who score low on such beliefs. From a young age, girls may internalize gender stereotypes about how girls should act and behave, including how they should look and