TY - BOOK AU - Retelsdorf, Jan TI - “Michael can’t read!” Teachers’ gender stereotypes and boys’ reading self-concept PY - 2014/// CY - Germany PB - American Psychological Association KW - gender sterotypes KW - reading self - concept N2 - According to expectancy-value theory, the gender stereotypes of significant others such as parents, peers, or teachers affect students’ competence beliefs, values, and achievement-related behavior. Stereotypically, gender beliefs about reading favor girls. The aim of this study was to investigate whether teachers’ gender stereotypes in relation to reading—their belief that girls outperform boys—have a negative effect on the reading self-concept of boys, but not girls. We drew on a longitudinal study comprising two occasions of data collection: toward the beginning of Grade 5 (T1) and in the second half of Grade 6 (T2). Our sample consisted of 54 teachers and 1,358 students. Using multilevel modeling, controlling for T1 reading self-concept, reading achievement, and school track, we found a negative association between teachers’ gender stereotype at T1 and boys’ reading self-concept at T2, as expected. For girls, this association did not yield a significant result. Thus, our results provide empirical support for the idea that gender differences in self-concept may be due to the stereotypical beliefs of teachers as significant others. In concluding, we discuss what teachers can do to counteract the effects of their own gender stereotypes. UR - https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037107 ER -