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My @Slate piece on the origins of the gender gap in top-level chess. Many male chess players believe that women are inherently bad at chess, without any true evidence. Arguments to fight this belief follow. https://slate.com/technology/2020/12/why-are-the-best-chess-players-men.html
Part of the problem is a common statistical oversight: it's not kosher to compare top individuals when two groups are very different in size, as in chess.
But beyond that, there are many social, cultural, and economic factors that hold top female players back. A partial list:
But beyond that, there are many social, cultural, and economic factors that hold top female players back. A partial list:
1) Harder for top women to make a living playing chess (and resulting lower focus).
2) Lack of invitations to high-profile tournaments where ranking can be improved.
3) Traditional gender roles.
4) Stereotype threat (yes, it's real, and evident in chess https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0956797620924051)
2) Lack of invitations to high-profile tournaments where ranking can be improved.
3) Traditional gender roles.
4) Stereotype threat (yes, it's real, and evident in chess https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0956797620924051)
5) Hostile environment for successful women in traditionally masculine roles. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jasp.12702. See also @JenShahade's https://news.stlpublicradio.org/arts/2019-10-17/on-chess-not-particularly-beautiful.
6) Extreme "genius culture", which combines with society-wide stereotypes that women are not brilliant to make the environment even more hostile (at all levels). https://science.sciencemag.org/content/347/6219/262.abstract https://science.sciencemag.org/content/355/6323/389.abstract https://en.chessbase.com/post/women-in-chess-role-of-innate-ability-beliefs
There is solid evidence for all these factors, if not in chess then in similar fields. There is no evidence for biological differences. Zero.
Why do men default to biological explanations? Maybe to maintain the social status quo that suits them well: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-40870-001
Why do men default to biological explanations? Maybe to maintain the social status quo that suits them well: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-40870-001
#TheQueensGambit has drawn many women into chess. But those gains will be lost without systemic change.
We can all do our part by speaking up against biological determinism and amplifying research on social and cultural factors in gender differences in fields like chess.
We can all do our part by speaking up against biological determinism and amplifying research on social and cultural factors in gender differences in fields like chess.
Researchers who work I cite in the piece: @linbian311, @AndreiCimpian, @dsmerdon, @FernandGobet, @CamachoCollados, @ftargument, @BrianLoweryPhD, Madeline Heilman, Sarah-Jane Leslie, Yanitsa Toneva, Gaelle Pierre, Larisa Hussak, Quentin Lippmann, Claudia Senik, Merim Bilalic,
Ambra Gentile, Isabella Giammusso, Sabina Albrecht, and others. If you are in the US, check out https://new.uschess.org/give/women-chess-initiative. Please comment if you have more suggestions.
