4-year PhD Position in Social Cognition

Particularité
Application : Please send your CV and cover letter (PDF format) to pascal.gygax@unifr.ch by 15 November 2026.
Domaine d'activité
PhD position on a project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), entitled Breaking Barriers: How Gender Stereotypes in French and

Swiss Schoolbooks Affect Young Learners’ Processing difficulties, Motivation and Interest.

School textbooks not only influence learning outcomes, but also shape how children perceive girls and boys, how they envision themselves within school subjects, and how they imagine their future careers.

Our project examines how women, men, girls, and boys are represented in primary school textbooks in Switzerland (both French-speaking and German-speaking regions) and in France, through both images and language. We seek to understand whether these representations reinforce or challenge gender stereotypes, and how they affect pupils’ motivation, interest, and learning. The ultimate goal is to contribute to the development of more inclusive educational resources that can support the potential and aspirations of all children.

The project is funded for a period of four years.
Exigences

Master’s degree in Psychology or an equivalent qualification

Interest in experimental research

Interest in social psychology, educational sciences, and gender studies

Good knowledge of experimental methodology, statistical tools (R), and contemporary analytical methods (mixed-effects models, LMMs)

Willingness to learn experimental programming software (e.g., PsyToolkit, PsychoPy)

Native speaker of German, with a good command of English. Knowledge of French is an asset.

Exigences linguistiquesAllemandautre: EnglishDate d'entrée en fonction:-01.01.2027 ou date à convenirRenseignements:Pascal Gygax pascal.gygax@unifr.ch Date limite de réception des offres:15.11.2026Adresse d'envoi:pascal.gygax@unifr.ch