Event overview
Departmental Seminar Series: A/Prof. Sophie von Stumm
In the United States and elsewhere, women earn on average less money than men, when working in comparable jobs and roles. In my talk, I will argue that the gender pay gap is perpetuated by women's dramatic misrepresentation in popular culture, specifically in top-grossing movies that feature 8.5 times more male lead characters with a professional job than females. In two studies (N = 558), I found that American men and women accurately estimated the gender pay gap today and 30 years ago, suggesting that gender differences in earnings are broadly recognized as socio-economic reality. By contrast, Americans were not aware of the extent of professional women's underrepresentation in top-grossing movies. In two subsequent studies (N = 561), I showed that Americans thought gender pay gaps were greater in regions, where fewer women participated in the workforce relative to men. A final pair of studies (N = 567) tested if Americans perceive the gender pay gap as fairer in regions with greater gender ratios of workforce participation. Overall, the findings suggest that the underrepresentation of professional women in movies leads to implicit biases that justify gender-based economic inequality.
Sophie von Stumm, who completed her PhD in Psychology at Goldsmiths in 2010, is currently Associate Professor in Developmental Psychology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she directs the Hungry Mind Lab (http://www.hungrymindlab.com). von Stumm integrates methods and ideas individual differences, developmental psychology and behavioural genetics to study the causes and consequences of individual differences in lifespan development. She is supported by a Jacobs Foundation Fellowship (2017-2019).
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Dec 2018 | 4:00pm - 5:00pm |
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