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Girls and women face persistent negative stereotyping within STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics). This field intervention was designed to improve boys' perceptions of girls' STEM ability. Boys (N = 667; mostly White and East Asian) aged 9–15 years in Canadian STEM summer camps (2017–2019) had an intervention or control conversation with trained camp staff. The intervention was a multi‐stage persuasive appeal: a values affirmation, an illustration of girls' ability in STEM, a personalized anecdote, and reflection. Control participants discussed general camp experiences. Boys who received the intervention (vs. control) had more positive perceptions of girls' STEM ability, d = 0.23, an effect stronger among younger boys. These findings highlight the importance of engaging elementary‐school‐aged boys to make STEM climates more inclusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stigma reduction research finds that brief interactions with a person with mental illness can reduce prejudiced attitudes. We examined whether this finding extends to real relationships over an extended period of time. First‐year college roommate dyads, one of whom reported a mental illness diagnosis participated in a longitudinal study (N = 166 dyads across three American universities). Based on contact theory, we tested whether mental illness prejudice declines when: (a) the student with mental illness disclosed that information to their roommate; (b) the roommate perceived the disclosure; and (c) the roommate relationship was close. Registered analyses showed that student disclosure predicted roommate perception (β =.52, p <.001), but roommate perception of the disclosure did not significantly predict reduced prejudice from the start to the end of the academic year (β = −.13, p =.172). Relationship closeness did not moderate how likely roommates were to perceive students' disclosures. Notably, overall levels of mental illness prejudice were very low in this American college sample, suggesting that the value of stigma interventions may depend on the context. Directions for future research and social policy implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]