STEM Professor Receptiveness to Prospective Student Emails

This study used manipulations of individuation(individuated vs. non-individuated) and goal type (agentic vs. communal) toexamine STEM professors’ receptiveness toward male and female prospectivestudents’ email requests for meetings. Non-individuated students simply sent ameeting request; individuated students provided an additional statementhighlighting their research experience. Agentic goal types focused onstereotypically “male” traits such as agency and leadership, and communal goaltypes focused on stereotypically “female” traits such as helping and serving. Emails were sent to a sample of 1,879 STEMprofessors in the U.S. who had previously recommended their female students for a careerdevelopment workshop.