A Phenomenological Study of Factors Influencing the Gender Gap in Physics and other STEM-Related Fields

Abstract

Current reports on the gender gap in STEM suggest factors influencing career choice between the sexes are not inevitable. Recent decades have documented a clear change in the gender makeup of some STEM disciplines. However, in many areas, the gap has persisted with little or no change in the number of women choosing to pursue a career in a STEM-related field such as Physics. According to recent AIP reports 1, 2 , women comprise 21% of undergraduate, 21% of graduate, and 19% of doctoral degrees in Physics. Many factors have been studied by scholars as contributing to the dearth of women in Physics and STEM 3-8 . Factors including the lack of role models, discouragement from the media, sex difference in cognitive skill, and unpleasant experiences related to gender-bias in the classroom have all been suggested as potential reasons why women tend not to pursue a career in Physics or other STEM field. Suggestions from some scholars also indicate that women often tend to seek out careers in which they feel they can make a difference. Unfortunately, the size of the gap in many areas has reached a plateau that hasn’t appeared to shift significantly over time. This phenomenological study will look at how individual perceptions of STEM (with an emphasis on Physics) as a career option may influence academic and professional pursuits. To that end, formal interviews with practicing professionals and college students from a range of disciplines will be used as a primary data collection tool. This paper will provide a synthesis of the empirical data collected through these formal interviews. Factors that emerge from this synthesis as having a significant influence on one’s perception of STEM as a career choice will be further examined and discussed. By focusing on individual perceptions, this study aims to contribute to the existing empirical database of factors that influence career choice and perpetuate the gender gap in STEMrelated fields such as Physics. The themes that emerge may stimulate further research on this topic and provide suggestions for best practices that may contribute to closing the gap.