Why women are put off by jobs that need ‘brilliance’

IF you’re asked to name a ‘genius’, the likes of Einstein, Beethoven and Shakespeare spring readily to mind.

But researchers fear a lack of acknowledged female geniuses is discouraging women from top jobs that call for a ‘brilliant’ candidate.

Their study found women feel anxious and uncomfortable about the most intellectually demanding careers. Instead, they are much more likely to choose jobs for ‘dedicated’ and hard-working people. Men, however, were not put off by a job’s requirement for intelligence.

The research, led by Stanford University, follows a study showing girls as young as six believe they cannot be as ‘brilliant’ as boys and are more likely to shy away from activities for ‘really, really clever’ children.

It may explain why fewer women than men enter ‘STEM’ careers in science, technology, engineering and maths.

The researchers surveyed 38 men and women on whether they would be interested in jobs requiring ‘brilliance’ or hard work, only to find women were put off by the former. Follow-up research asking almost 600 participants what they thought of these types of job adverts found women were more anxious if a role required brilliance.

The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, concluded: ‘Notions of brilliance and genius are stereotypically associated with men, not women. These cultural notions are likely to affect women’s involvement in a variety of professions.’