Parents and coaches of youth chess players believe girls and women have less potential than their male counterparts, according to a new study. Furthermore, those who believe brilliance is required to succeed in chess also think female players are more likely to stop playing due to a lack of ability.
The Queen’s Gambit raised awareness of sexism in the male-dominated chess world. In the miniseries, the main character, Beth Harmon, a fictional chess prodigy, is constantly underestimated by male competitors. New research has found real-world evidence that parents and coaches undervalue girls and young women who play chess.
Only 14% of U.S. Chess Federation players are women, and the new study reveals a potential cause for this gender disparity. The research, forthcoming in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, surveyed nearly 300 parents and mentors of players recruited through the U.S. Chess Federation, who answered questions about their children and their mentees. Participants rated each player’s ability and future potential in the game. Then, respondents were asked how much they thought brilliance was required to succeed in chess.
Regarding their current abilities, young women were evaluated to be just as capable as their male counterparts. However, male students received higher ratings on their future potential. So, even though the girls were currently playing as well as the boys, the parents and mentors felt that the male players had more potential.
This bias was exacerbated among parents and mentors who believed that success in chess hinged on brilliance. Those who felt brilliance was crucial to the game also thought that young women were likelier to drop out of chess. “It is striking that even the parents and coaches who have a vested interest in girls’ success hold biases against them,” said Andrei Cimpian, an NYU Department of Psychology professor and the paper’s senior author, in a press release.
A noteworthy additional discovery from the study is that when parents were asked why some of their other children didn’t play chess, lack of ability was only reported as a reason for girls. “This study provides the first large-scale investigation of bias against young female players and holds implications for the role of parents and mentors in science and technology—areas that, like chess, are culturally associated with intellectual ability and exhibit substantial gender imbalances,” notes Sophie Arnold, an NYU doctoral student and the lead author of the paper.
Indeed, the belief that brilliance is a male trait starts young and impacts women in many fields. In academic disciplines linked to brilliance, such as mathematics and philosophy, women are underrepresented among those entering and overrepresented among those leaving. Framing a job opening or internship as requiring a high level of intellectual ability undermines women’s, but not men’s, interest in the opportunity. Even five to seven-year-olds were more likely to choose boys as teammates when told a game required “smarts.”
The chess study’s authors included Jennifer Shahade, a two-time U.S. Women’s Chess champion and author of two books, Chess Queens and Play Like A Champion. Shahade says she’s been fighting sexism and misogyny in chess for decades. As a youth player, she was told by a male coach that menstruation could impact the strength of her play and even her opening moves. At chess camp, a guest speaker explained that the gender imbalance at the top levels of chess could be explained by men’s and women’s differing IQ levels. She credits her supportive family for her ability to shrug off this gender bias.
Shahade was not a “super quick learner” in chess, and she worries that young girls who are late bloomers may face even more bias. “When a girl is extremely talented, she is often celebrated and encouraged very actively, just as much, and sometimes even more than a boy of a similar talent. However, the problem I’ve noticed is with kids who are a little slower starting out—and don’t forget, this is the majority of kids. That’s where I think girls get left behind,” she explains.
Fortunately, Shahade has some advice to offer young girls who may feel their coaches or parents underestimate them. Building confidence is key. She advises, “Consider mental game training to tackle the question of building up your confidence before the game. Find friends, sparring partners and coaches who believe in you, even when you’re in a rating slump. For me, building confidence was a struggle. It often meant alone time, exercise and reviewing chess puzzles and some of my best wins right before a big event.”
Shahade’s final advice is invaluable for anyone who feels overlooked in their profession. “When it feels like the rest of the world doesn’t believe in you, it’s even more crucial to believe in yourself,” she suggests.
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