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Gender, stereotypes and expertise in the press: how newspapers represent female and male scientists.

This report is part of a series of four reports examining the representation of 
gender and science. The work was commissioned by the UK Resource Centre 
for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (UKRC). This part of the 
research examined coverage of Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) in 
twelve UK national newspapers over a six month period. The main findings 
are: 
• Men are much more often cited as expert scientific sources than women: 5 
men are quoted by journalists for every 1 woman. The same is true for indepth 
interviews: 5 male scientists are profiled in the press for every 1 
female scientist. 
• Journalists are more likely to comment on appearance when writing about 
women: half the profiles of female scientists mentioned clothing, physique or 
hairstyle whereas the equivalent was true for only a fifth of the profiles of 
male scientists. 
• Descriptions of women can imply a contradiction between being a ‘real 
woman’ and a ‘real scientist’. Women in SET who are seen as conforming 
to traditional stereotypes such as ‘the geek’ are sometimes implicitly 
presented as unfeminine. Alternatively, if they are ‘sexy’ and ‘glamorous’ 
their status as scientists may be thrown into question. 
• By contrast, descriptions of men working in SET seem to confirm men’s 
status as bona fide scientists, computer whiz-kids or technological 
innovators. 
• Our interviews with scientists reveal the negative impact that genderstereotypes 
and scrutiny of appearance can have on women working in 
male-dominated work places. These interviews also highlight how media 
industries may constrain the range of publicly available images of women 
working in SET. 
Our report concludes with recommendations for journalists who wish to avoid 
reinforcing inequalities and for organisations seeking to promote the positive 
representation of women in SET.