In recent decades, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has sparked growing interest within the scientific community, not only due to its clinical complexity, but also because of the social, educational, and diagnostic implications it entails. At the same time, the rise in diagnoses has led to greater collective awareness, while also highlighting a series of unresolved issues, particularly regarding gender differences in how the disorder presents. Numerous studies emphasize that ASD may appear more subtly in girls and women, often masked by social adaptation strategies - known as “camouflaging” - which make timely and accurate diagnosis more challenging. Moreover, the self-reported diagnostic experiences of many women - and the frequent lack of recognition or delayed identification of their condition - has raised the following research question: are there potential gender biases in diagnostic processes, such that cultural and social expectations toward women, often seen as more empathetic or socially competent, might lead clinicians to underestimate or misinterpret ASD symptoms in females? The aim of this research - born from a collaboration between the Departments of Neuroscience and Neuropsychology and Special Education at the University of Verona - is to explore the role of potential gender biases in autism diagnosis. This is achieved through an experimental survey conducted with a sample of professionals in the clinical and psychoeducational fields: around one hundred practitioners responded to the survey, all of whom are involved in making diagnostic assessments within public or affiliated private healthcare services. Using a methodology based on diagnostic vignettes, the research seeks to understand whether - and how - the gender of the subject described in the vignettes influences the recognition of the disorder. The items were selected so that the presence of ASD was equally distributed between male and female subjects. The diagnostic responses from professionals showed a result of approximately 68% male and 32% female identifications, confirming the presence of diagnostic biases. This initial finding prompts further reflection: how can we improve the quality and fairness of diagnoses by fostering greater awareness of the implicit factors that may interfere with evaluative processes?

Keywords: Gender and Equality in Education, Multidisciplinary Studies, Research Methodologies.