What is a Scientist?

What is a Scientist?

by Grace Kizina

Poll

Was your scientist male or female?

• male

• female

Poll

Did your scientist have a white lab jacket on?

• Yes

• No

Poll

Select each item below that was shown on your drawing.  (If it was on your drawing, then select those boxes.)

• a test tube or beaker like the one with blue fluid in it above

• the scientist had glasses or goggles

• chemicals of some type are shown

• there is a table in the picture

• the scientist has crazy hair

Poll

Please choose each additional item that was shown in your drawing. Choose as many as apply.

• planets

• a beard

• a chart like the Periodic Table of Elements

• clipboard

• Charts or graphs or something that represents them

Poll

Again please choose each item that was represented in your drawing.

• the person male or female is wearing pants

• there is a computer, microscope, calculator or some type of electronic device

• a lightbulb is shown

• some type of atom is represented

• an explosion

Poll

Do you know what a stereotype is?

• yes

• no

​Definition of a stereotype:

​a widely held idea or image of a particular type of person or thing

​

​Examples of widely held stereotypes:

• ​Most people picture a cowboy having a horse.

• ​Older people are slow and incompetent when doing work.

• ​All teenagers have bad attitudes.

• ​Architects are usually men.

​Scientists are often subject to stereotypes.

​

​I am going to make a prediction of the stereotypes that the majority of you drew when asked the question:

​ "What is a scientist?"

​My predictions what most of you drew based on sterotypes.

• ​more of you drew men than women

• ​the scientist was wearing a white lab coat

• ​the scientist you drew had glasses

• ​the majority of students had a scientist with facial hair of some type

• ​the scientist will have wild and crazy hair

• ​the scientist looks like he/she might be a little wacky

• ​there will be table in the picture often showing mixing chemicals

• ​there will be some type of explosion shown

• ​the scientist will be wearing pants

​A few other stereotypes that are almost as common and often in the drawing:

• ​the drawings hardly ever show a barefoot scientist

• ​if a female was drawn she looks really smart, but males often look a bit crazy

• ​a lot of drawings show microscopes or computers

• ​a lot of drawings show an atom like you see in the picture here

• ​most of the scientists look happy

• ​most people drew a single person rather than a group

Poll

So....how did I do with my predictions of the stereotype of what you would draw when given this task???

• Wow!! You did a great job predicting my drawing.

• Nah...you were way off on what I drew!  I beat the stereotypical idea of a scientist!

• Well...you were actually pretty close.  My drawing did have a lot of the stereotypes represented.