From bridge to chess, why men outperform women at ‘mindsports’ – and what to do about it

By Samantha Punch, University of Stirling

Why do men strongly outperform women at “mindsports” such as chess and bridge? Mindsports mainly use the brain and require skills such as memory, critical thinking, problem solving, strategic planning, mental discipline and judgment. Without physical differences in strength, how do we explain why the top level of such games tends to be dominated by men?

A defining characteristic of bridge, which I study, is that it is always played in partnership. Each game consists of four players divided into two pairs who compete against each other to win tricks. Major bridge events have open and women’s categories, often held concurrently, with very few women playing in the open.

While this allows women to compete at an international level, it feeds into perceptions about women’s inability to succeed at the highest level.

Women have limited visibility at the top levels of bridge. The chief tournament directors and those on international executive committees are most often men (although this is starting to change). The captains and coaches of the women-only teams are nearly always men. Female sponsors prefer to hire male professional players as partners and teammates.

Male domination at both the top levels of administration and of the game means there can be a lack of recognition of the structural barriers for women.

Research conducted by the academic project Bridge: A MindSport for All (Bamsa) found that gender stereotypes and “neurosexism” (claiming there are differences between female and male brains that can explain women’s inferiority), can partly explain differences in achievement.

That’s because sexist arguments that male brains are superiorly wired for logic and mathematics can be used to offer men more opportunities and training than women.

This is despite the fact that modern research shows there isn’t such a thing as a distinctly male or female brain. Most brains are a mosaic of what we think of as feminine and masculine features. And the more mixed our brains, the better our mental health.

Read Full Story https://theconversation.com/from-bridge-to-chess-why-men-outperform-women-at-mindsports-and-what-to-do-about-it-223873