Sarah-Jane Leslie (Ph.D., Princeton, 2007) is a cognitive scientist who is currently appointed as the Class of 1943 Professor of Philosophy and Statistics and Machine Learning at Princeton University. She is the co-director, along with Tania Lombrozo, of Princeton's Natural and Artificial Minds initiative. She is also affiliated faculty in Princeton’s AI Lab, Department of Psychology, Program in Cognitive Science, Program in Linguistics, and various other centers and programs.
She has previously served as Dean of the Graduate School, Vice Dean for Faculty Development, Director of the Program in Linguistics, and Founding Director of the Program in Cognitive Science.
Leslie began her career by working primarily in philosophy but became increasingly engaged with cognitive psychology. Much of her work has focused on generic generalizations (e.g., “tigers are striped”, “ducks lay eggs”), particularly their role in human cognition. She is also known for the finding that academic gender gaps are most pronounced in disciplines that emphasize the need for “raw brilliance.”
Since returning to the faculty from administration in 2021, Leslie’s work has moved in a computational direction, with a focus on computational modeling and AI/cognitive science intersections. Her interests include symbolic reasoning in humans and AI, stochastic network dynamics, and applications of optimal transport to cognitive science.
Leslie has recently developed two classes, one graduate and one undergraduate, aimed at introducing students to machine learning with minimal math and coding prerequisites. More information on these courses can be found here.
Leslie has delivered the Andrew Carnegie Lecture at the University of Aberdeen, the Gareth Evans Memorial Lecture at Oxford University, the Daniel Greenberg Lecture at Reed College, and was the 2015 recipient of the Stanton Award from the Society for Philosophy and Psychology. The work on academic gender gaps was named as one of 2015’s most interesting scientific findings by Edge. Her work has been covered extensively in the media, including by the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal , and the Guardian. She has appeared on BBC, NPR, WHYY, and CBC Radio, and on television on NBC.
NBC, Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly, July 9th 2017
"Girls may see boys as smarter starting at age 6, new study indicates"
NBC, TODAY, July 6th 2017
"Implicit Bias"
BBC Radio 4, Analysis, with David Edmonds, June 5th 2017
"Girls Lose Sight of Own 'Brilliance' at Young Age"
Science Friday, Christie Taylor, January 27th 2017
"Girls & Brilliance"
CBC Radio, Ottawa Morning with Bridget O'Toole, January 27th 2017
Also on CBC Radio for Windsor Morning, Island Morning, West Coast Morning, The Trailbreaker, A New Day, Daybreak Kamloops, Saskatoon Morning, Vancouver Early Edition
"We expect you'll be brilliant! Unless you're a woman."
CBC Radio, Nora Young, March 22nd 2015
"Do fictional geniuses hold back real women?"
NPR, Geoff Brumfiel, January 15th 2015
"Academic gender gaps tied to stereotype about genius, Princeton study finds"
WHYY, Jessica McDonald, January 15th 2015
"The Brilliance Paradox: What Really Keeps Women and Minorities from Excelling in Academia"
Scientific American, Andrei Cimpian and Sarah-Jane Leslie, August 16th 2017
"Brilliance Comes in More Than 1 Gender"
Scientific American Blog Network, Andrei Cimpian and Sarah-Jane Leslie, February 9th 2017
"Why Young Girls Don’t Think They are Smart Enough"
New York Times, Andrei Cimpian and Sarah-Jane Leslie, January 26th 2017
"Women Feel Like Imposters in Disciplines that Value 'Brilliance'"
Science, Mennatalla Ibrahim, August 13th 2021
"Why Brilliant Women Get Overlooked"
The London Times, Tom Whipple, December 11th 2018
"Women and Girls Less Likely to be Considered for 'Brainy' Tasks"
The Guardian, Nicola Davis, December 10th 2018
"Watch your Language"
Nature, February 14th 2018
"'Looking for Brilliant Minds' Translates as 'Women Need not Apply'"
Pacific Standard, Tom Jacobs, January 9th 2018
"Why is Silicon Valley So Awful to Women?"
The Atlantic, Liza Mundy, March 14th 2017
"Hillary Clinton Talks Gender Inequality in Girls Inc. Speech" (Video Here)
Teen Vogue, Brittney McNamara, March 7th 2017
"The Time Is Now for Women to Run for Office"
Motto, Gretchen Carlson, February 23rd 2017
"By Age Six, Girls Have Already Stopped Thinking of Their Gender as 'Brilliant'"
Smithsonian Magazine, Ben Panko, January 27th 2017
"Study: 6-year old girls say they are less 'brilliant' than boys. Why?"
The Christian Science Monitor, Eva Botkin-Kowacki, January 27th 2017
"Parents, take note! By age 6, girls less likely to believe they are 'brilliant'"
The Times of India, AFP, January 27th 2017
"Girls feel less 'smart' than boys by age 6, research says"
CNN, Juliet Perry and Meera Senthilingam, January 27th 2017
"Girls equate 'brilliance' with men: study"
Herald Sun, Emma Batha, January 27th 2017
"Elementary School Girls Think Boys Are Smarter"
Time, Kate Dwyer, January 27th 2017
"Little Girls Doubt That Women Can Be Brilliant, Study Shows"
NBC News, The Associated Press, January 27th 2017
"By age 6, girls less likely to say women 'really, really smart,' study finds"
Phildelphia Inquirer, Tom Avril, January 27th 2017
"Girls as young as six think 'brilliance' is for boys: study"
Newsweek, Lucy Clarke-Billings, January 27th 2017
"Girls lose faith in their own talents by the age of six"
BBC News, James Gallagher, January 27th 2017
"Girls believe brilliance is a male trait, research into gender stereotypes shows"
The Guardian, Nicola Davis, January 27th 2017
"Why 6 Is the Most Important Age to Remind Your Daughter She’s Smart"
New York Magazine, Jen Gann, January 26th 2017
"6-Year-Old Girls Already Have Gendered Beliefs About Intelligence"
The Atlantic, Ed Yong, January 26th 2017
"We've been misled about the difference between genders"
The Washington Post, Robert Gebelhoff, January 26th 2017
"Research shows young girls are less likely to think of women as 'really, really smart'"
The Washington Post, Nick Anderson, January 26th 2017
"Young Girls Are Less Apt To Think That Women Are Really, Really Smart"
NPR, Katherine Hobson, January 26th 2017
"Little girls doubt that women can be brilliant, study shows"
The Associated Press, Maria Danilova, January 26th 2017
"By age 6, gender stereotypes can affect girls' choices"
National Science Foundation, January 26th 2017
"Girls Start Doubting Their Own Brilliance As Young As 6, Researchers Say"
The Huffington Post, Nick Visser, January 26th 2017
"Gender stereotypes are strong even in 6-year-olds"
Mashable, Maria Gallucci, January 26th 2017
"Smart Talk: Stereotypes about 'brilliance' may set in for girls as early as age 6"
News at Princeton, Office of Communications, January 26th 2017
"The Dawning of a New Era for Linguistics at Princeton"
Princeton Alumni Weekly, Alastair Gee, January 11th 2017
"How 'Genius' Holds Back Female Academics"
Cited, Gordon Katic, and Sam Fenn (radio appearance), March 8th 2016
"My Brilliant (White Male) Professors"
Inside Higher Ed, Scott Jaschik, March 4th 2016
"Like the Oscars, #PhilosophySoWhite"
Los Angeles Times, Myisha Cherry and Eric Schwitzgebel, March 4th 2016
"The En-Gendering of Genius"
In response to Edge's Annual Question 2016: What do you consider the most interesting recent [scientific] news? What makes it important?
Edge, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, January 4th 2016
"Views on bias can be biased"
Science News, Bethany Brookshire, October 26th 2015
"Snookered"
The Times Literary Supplement, David Papineau, July 15th 2015
"Men are brilliant, women are bossy: What research tells us about unconscious bias, gender, and 'genius'"
Salon, Kate McDonough, February 10th 2015
"The danger of believing talent is innate"
The Wall Street Journal, Alison Gopnik, February 4th 2015
"Women less welcome than men in fields demanding brilliance"
Bioscience Technology, Cynthia Fox, January 28th 2015
"Hidden hurdle looms for women in science"
Scientific American, Boer Deng, January 20th 2015
"Women shun fields that are perceived to require 'innate ability'"
Physics World, Jude Dineley, January 19th 2015
"University challenge"
The Economist, Geoffrey Carr, January 17th 2015
"Does the 'innate genius' stereotype widen the STEM gender gap?"
Science Friday, Alexa Lim, with special guest Carol Dweck, January 16th 2015
"'Natural genius' myth deters women from science"
The Telegraph, Siobhan Fenton, January 16th 2015
"Gender Gap: Women welcome in 'hard working' fields, but 'genius' fields are male-dominated, study finds"
The Washington Post, Rachel Feltman, January 15th 2015
"Cracking the gender gap"
NBC, Stacey Naggiar, January 15th 2015
"Disciplines that expect 'brilliance' tend to punish women"
The Chronicle of Higher Education, Madeleine Will, January 15th 2015
"In US academia, fields that cherish sheer genius shun women"
Reuters, Will Dunham, January 15th 2015
"Women deterred from many fields by stereotypes of 'brilliance'"
Bloomberg, Lauren Colby, January 15th 2015
"Gender gap in academia strongest in fields that emphasize 'brilliance'"
Al-Jazeera America, Marisa Taylor, January 15th 2015
"'Spark of brilliance' bias holding back women in science?"
The Christian Science Monitor, Pete Spotts, January 15th 2015
"Women are less likely to become scientists because of a 'misconceived idea of brilliance', study finds"
The Independent, Steve Connor, January 15th 2015
"Missing out, women who play down their genius"
Daily Mail, Fiona Macrae, January 15th 2015
"Academic fields that cherish sheer genius shun women"
The Huffington Post, January 15th 2015
"Hidden hurdle looms for women in science"
Nature News, Boer Deng, January 15th 2015
"Emphasizing natural brilliance might keep women away from certain fields"
The Smithsonian Magazine, Marissa Fessenden, January 15th 2015
"Perceptions of brilliance and gender gaps in academe"
Inside Higher Ed, January 15th 2015
"The gender gap is wider in fields associated more with 'brilliance' than with hard work"
The Week, Julie Kleigman, January 15th 2015
"US Academic Fields that cherish 'spark of genius' shun women"
South China Morning Post, January 15th 2015
"La vieja idea del genio cientifico perjudica la carrera de las investigadoras"
El Confidential, Rocio Benavente, January 15th 2015
"Des stereotypes intellectuels sexistes penalisent les femmes dans les science"
Le Parisien, Patrick Kovarik, January 15th 2015
"A 'brilliant' new theory on the gender gap"
Pacific Standard, Kate Wheeling, January 15th 2015
"Women can't be geniuses? Stereotypes may explain gender gap"
Live Science, Bahar Gholipour, January 15th 2015
"Attitude, not aptitude, may contribute to the gender gap"
Science News, Bethany Brookshire, January 15th 2015
"Belief that some fields require 'brilliance' may keep women out"
AAAS Science News, Rachel Bernstein, January 15th 2015
"Stereotypes: Mind the gender gap"
Princeton Alumni Weekly, Jessica Lander, October 22nd 2014
"Q&A with Carol Dweck"
New York Times, Vikas Bajaj, December 12th 2013
"Would You Accept DNA from a Murderer?"
NPR, Tania Lombrozo, June 10th 2013
"Generalized Phrases Can Foster Stereotypes in Kids, Study Says"
LA Times, Mary MacVean, August 8th 2012
"How Generic Language Leads Children to Develop Social Stereotypes"
Huffington Post, Marjorie Rhodes, August 7th 2012
"Stereotyping and Prejudice in Children Begins with Generic Language Learning"
Medical Daily, Amber Moore, August 7th 2012
"Kids who hear stereotypes believe them, and more"
Futurity, August 7th 2012
"Hearing generic language helps fuel stereotypes, researchers find"
Phys Org, August 6th 2012
"Generic Language Helps Fuel Stereotypes"
Science Daily, August 6th 2012
"Philosophy Tests"
Princeton Alumni Weekly, David Menconi, May 16th 2012
Lerner, A., Cullen, S., & Leslie, S.J. (Eds.). (2020). Current Controversies in the Philosophy of Science. Routledge.
Allaway, E., Bhagavatula, C., Hwang, J., McKeown, K., & Leslie, S.J. (forthcoming). Exceptions, Instantiations, and Overgeneralization: Insights into How Language Models Process Generics. Computational Linguistics, Special Issue on Language Learning, Representation, and Processing in Humans and Machines.
Mun, J., Allaway E., Yerukola, A., Vianna L., Leslie, S.J., & Sap, M. (2023). Beyond Denouncing Hate: Strategies for Countering Implied Biases and Stereotypes in Language. Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: EMNLP 2023, 9759-9777. LINK
Muradoglu, M., Arnold, S., Leslie, S.J., & Cimpian, A. (2023). "What Does It Take to Succeed Here?” The Belief that Success Requires Brilliance Is an Obstacle to Diversity. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 32(5), 379–386. PDF
Allaway, E., Taneja, N., Leslie, S.J., & Sap, M. (2022). Towards Countering Essentialism through Social Bias Reasoning. EMNLP workshop on NLP for Positive Impact. PDF
Foster-Hanson, E., Leslie, S.J., & Rhodes, M. (2022). Speaking of Kinds: How Correcting Generic Statements can Shape Children’s Concepts. Cognitive Science, 46(12), e13223. PDF
Wang, M. M., Cardarelli, A., Leslie, S.-J., & Rhodes, M. (2022). How Children’s Media and Teachers Communicate exclusive and essentialist views of science and scientists. Developmental Psycholog. PDF
Muradoglu, M., Horne, Z., Hammond, M. D., Leslie, S. J., & Cimpian, A. (2021) Women—particularly underrepresented minority women—and early-career academics feel like impostors in fields that value brilliance. Journal of Educational Psychology. PDF
Leshin, R.A., Leslie, S.J., & Rhodes, M. (2021). Does It Matter How We Speak About Social Kinds? A Large, Preregistered, Online Experimental Study of How Language Shapes the Development of Essentialist Beliefs. Child Development, 92(4), e531-e547. PDF
Rhodes, M., Cardarelli, A., & Leslie, S.J. (2020). Asking young children to “do science” instead of “be scientists” increases science engagement in a randomized field experiment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(18), 9808-9814. PDF
Johnston, M., & Leslie, S.J. (2019). Cognitive Psychology and the Metaphysics of Meaning. Metaphysics and Cognitive Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press: pp. 183-205. PDF
Lei, R., Green, E., Leslie, S.J., & Rhodes, M. (2019). Children lose confidence in their potential to “be scientists,” but not in their capacity to “do science”. Developmental Science, 22(6), e12837. PDF
Rhodes, M., Leslie, S.J., Yee, K., & Saunders, K. (2019). Subtle linguistic cues increase girls’ engagement in science. Psychological Science, 30(3), 455-466. PDF
Gelman, S.A., Leslie, S.J., Gelman, R., & Leslie, A.M. (2019). Do children recall numbers as generic? A strong test of the generics-as-defaults hypothesis. Language Learning and Development, 15(3), 217-231. PDF
Bian, L., Leslie, S. J., & Cimpian, A. (2018). Evidence of bias against girls and women in contexts that emphasize intellectual ability. American Psychologist, 73(9), 1139–1153. PDF
Bian, L., Leslie, S.J., & Murphy, M., Cimpian, A. (2018). Messages about brilliance undermine women’s interest in educational and professional opportunities. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 76, 404-420. PDF
Chestnut, E., Lei, R., Leslie, S.J., & Cimpian, A. (2018). The myth that only brilliant people are good at math and its implications for diversity. Education Sciences, 8(2), 65. PDF
Rhodes, M., Leslie, S.J., Bianchi, L.B., & Chalik, L. (2018). The role of generic language in the early development of social categorization. Child Development. DOI 10.1111/cdev.12714. PDF
Bian, L., Leslie, S.J, & Cimpian, A. (2017). Gender stereotypes about intellectual ability emerge early and influence children’s interests. Science, 355(6323), 389-391. PDF
Chalik, L., Leslie, S.J., & Rhodes, M. (2017). Cultural context shapes essentialist beliefs about religion. Developmental Psychology, 53(6), 1178-1187. PDF
Rhodes, M., Leslie, S.J., Saunders, K., Dunham, Y., & Cimpian, A. (2017). How does social essentialism affect the development of inter-group relations? Developmental Science. DOI 10.1111/desc.12509. PDF
Leslie, S.J. (2017). The Original Sin of Cognition: Fear, Prejudice and Generalization. The Journal of Philosophy, 114(8), 1-29. PDF
Meyer, M., Gelman, S.A., Roberts, S.O., & Leslie, S.J. (2016). My heart made me do it: Children's essentialist beliefs about heart transplants. Cognitive Science. DOI 10.1111/cogs.12431. PDF
Wodak, D., & Leslie, S.J. (2017). The Mark of the Plural: Generics and Race. Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Race.
Gelman, S.A., Sanchez, I. & Leslie, S.J. (2016). Memory for generic and quantified sentences in Spanish-speaking children and adults. Journal of Child Language, 43(6), 1231-1244. PDF
Lerner, A., & Leslie, S.J. (2016). Generics and Experimental Philosophy. In W. Buckwalter & J. Sytsma (eds.), The Blackwell Companion to Experimental Philosophy. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 404-417. PDF
Horne, Z., Storage, D., Cimpian, A., & Leslie, S.J. (2016). The frequency of words like “brilliant” and “genius” in teaching evaluations predicts the representation of women and African Americans across academia. PLoS ONE, 11(3), e0150194. PDF
• Covered by several media outlets, including Inside Higher Ed
Leslie, S.J., & Lerner, A. (2016). Generic Generalizations. In E. Zalta (ed.), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, PDF.
Meyer, M., Cimpian, A., & Leslie, S.J. (2015). Women are underrepresented in fields where success is thought to require brilliance. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1-12. PDF
Leslie, S.J., Cimpian, A., Meyer, M., & Freeland, E. (2015). Expectations of Brilliance Underlie Gender Distributions Across Academic Disciplines. Science, 347(6219), 262-265. PDF
Foster-Hanson, E., Leslie, S. J., & Rhodes, M. (2016). How does generic language elicit essentialist beliefs? Proceedings of the 38th Annual Cognitive Science Society. Philadelphia, PA: Cognitive Science Society. PDF
Cimpian, A., & Leslie, S.J. (2015). Response to technical comment on “Expectations of Brilliance Underlie Women’s Representation Across Academic Disciplines. Science, 349(6246), 391-c. PDF
Gelman, S.A., Leslie, S.J., Was, A.M., & Koch, C.M. (2015). Children's interpretations of general quantifiers, specific quantifiers, and generics. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 30(4), 448-461. PDF
Sutherland, S., Cimpian, A., Leslie, S.J., & Gelman, S.A. (2015). Memory Errors Reveal a Bias to Spontaneously Generalize to Categories. Cognitive Science, 39(5), 1021-1046. PDF
Leslie, S.J. (2015). 'Hillary Clinton is the only man in the Obama Administration': Dual Character Concepts, Generics, and Gender. Analytic Philosophy, 56(2), 111-141. PDF
Leslie, S.J. (2015). Generics. In R. Audi (ed.) Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Leslie, S.J. (2015). Generics Oversimplified. Nous, 49(1), 28-54. PDF
Leslie, S.J. (2014). Carving Up the Social World with Generics. Oxford Studies in Experimental Philosophy, 1, 208-232. PDF
Lerner, A., & Leslie, S.J. (2013). Generics, Generalism, and Reflective Equilibrium: Implications for Moral Theorizing from the Study of Language. Philosophical Perspectives, 27, 366-403. PDF
Prasada, S., Khemlani, S., Leslie, S.J., & Glucksberg, S. (2013). Conceptual Distinctions Amongst Generics. Cognition, 126, 405-422. PDF
Meyer, M., Leslie, S.J., Gelman, S.A., & Stilwell, S. (2013). Essentialist Beliefs about Organ Transplants in the United States and India. Cognitive Science, 37, 668-710. PDF
Leslie, S.J. (2013). Essence and Natural Kinds: When Science Meets Preschooler Intuition. Oxford Studies in Epistemology, 4, 108-165. PDF
Johnston, M. & Leslie, S.J. (2012). Concepts, Analysis, Generics, and the Canberra Plan. Philosophical Perspectives, 26, 113-171. PDF
Leslie, S.J. (2012). Generics Articulate Default Generalizations. Recherches Linguistiques de Vincennes: New Perspectives on Genericity at the Interfaces (A. Mari, ed.), 41, 25-45. PDF
Rhodes, M., Leslie, S.J., & Tworek, C. (2012). Cultural Transmission of Social Essentialism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 109(34), 13526-13531. PDF
Leslie, S.J. & Gelman, S.A. (2012). Quantified Statements are Recalled as Generics. Cognitive Psychology, 64, 186-214. PDF
Brandone, A. Cimpian, A., Leslie, S.J. & Gelman, S.A. (2012). Do Lions Have Manes? For Children, Generics are about Kinds rather than Quantities. Child Development, 83(2), 423-433. PDF
Khemlani, S., Leslie, S.J. & Glucksberg, S. (2012). Inferences about Members of Kinds: The Generics Hypothesis. Language and Cognitive Processes, 27, 887-900. PDF
Leslie, S.J. (2012). Eros and the Redemption of the Gods: Themes from Wagner. in A. Hamilton and N. Zangwill (eds.), Scruton's Aesthetics, Palgrave Macmillan. PDF
Leslie, S.J. (2012). Generics. In G. Russell and D. G. Fara (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Language. New York: Routledge, pp. 355-367. PDF
Leslie, S.J. (2011). Essence, Plenitude, and Paradox. Philosophical Perspectives, 25, 277-296. PDF
Leslie, S.J., Khemlani, S. & Glucksberg, S. (2011). All Ducks Lay Eggs: The Generic Overgeneralization Effect.Journal of Memory and Language, 65, 15-31. PDF
Leslie, S.J. (2011). Generics. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy.PDF
Leslie, S.J. (2009). ‘If’, ‘Unless’, and Quantification. In R. Stainton and C. Viger (eds.) Compositionality, Context and Semantics. Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy (SLAP), vol. 85, Dordrecht: Springer.PDF
Khemlani, S., Leslie, S.J. & Glucksberg, S. (2009) Generics, Prevalence, and Default Inferences. Proceedings of the 31st Annual Cognitive Science Society. Amsterdam: Cognitive Science Society. PDF
Leslie, S.J., Khemlani, Prasada, S. & Glucksberg, S. (2009). Conceptual and Linguistic Distinctions between Singular and Plural Generics. Proceedings of the 31st Annual Cognitive Science Society. Amsterdam: Cognitive Science Society. PDF
Leslie, S.J. (2008). Generics: Cognition and Acquisition. Philosophical Review, vol. 117, no. 1, pp. 1-47.PDF
Leslie, S.J. (2007). Generics and the Structure of the Mind. Philosophical Perspectives, vol 21, no.1,pp. 375-403. PDF
Leslie, S.J. (2007). Moderately Sensitive Semantics. In G. Preyer (ed.), Context Sensitivity and Semantic Minimalism: Essays on Semantics and Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. PDF
Khemlani, S., Leslie, S.J., Glucksberg, S. & Fernandez, P.R. (2007). Do Ducks Lay Eggs? How People Interpret Generic Assertions. Proceedings of the 29th Annual Cognitive Science Society.Nashville, TN: Cognitive Science Society. PDF