STEM Role Models

"Scully’s media depiction of a high-achieving woman in STEM asked a generation of girls and women to imagine new professional options. Commentators have speculated about the “Scully Effect” for two decades – the term coined for this phenomenon – but this is the first research study to evidentially confirm it. Women in our study report that Scully’s character influenced their perceptions of, aspiration for, and involvement in STEM. Beyond paving the way for other characters like her in media (e.g., Bones’ Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan, Veronica Mars, Alias’s Sydney Bristow, and Firefly’s Zoe Washburne10), Scully also influenced a generation of young women to study and pursue careers in STEM." Research by 21st Century Fox, Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and J. Walter Thompson Intelligence

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