Abstract
The degree of women's underrepresentation varies by STEM fields. Women are now overrepresented in social sciences, yet only constitute a fraction of the engineering workforce. In the current study, we investigated the gender differences in interests as an explanation for the differential distribution of women across sub-disciplines of STEM as well as the overall underrepresentation of women in STEM fields. Specifically, we meta-analytically reviewed norm data on basic interests from 52 samples in 33 interest inventories published between 1964 and 2007, with a total of 209,810 male and 223,268 female respondents. We found gender differences in interests to vary largely by STEM field, with the largest gender differences in interests favoring men observed in engineering disciplines (d = 0.83–1.21), and in contrast, gender differences in interests favoring women in social sciences and medical services (d = −0.33 and −0.40, respectively). Importantly, the gender composition (percentages of women) in STEM fields reflects these gender differences in interests. The patterns of gender differences in interests and the actual gender composition in STEM fields were explained by the people-orientation and things-orientation of work environments, and were not associated with the level of quantitative ability required. These findings suggest potential interventions targeting interests in STEM education to facilitate individuals' ability and career development and strategies to reform work environments to better attract and retain women in STEM occupations.
Highlights
Despite major advancement of women’s participation and status in the workforce over the past decades, women overall remain the minority in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines
The current study focuses on the differential interests of men and women that may drive career choices within STEM fields just as they influence the selection between STEM and other careers1
Based on the above evidence, we argue that men and women’s differential interests for work environments provide the other side of the coin—an if not more, important psychological mechanism for understanding the gender disparities in STEM fields—in addition to cognition and learning pertaining to math preparation and achievement
Summary
Despite major advancement of women’s participation and status in the workforce over the past decades, women overall remain the minority in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The underrepresentation of women in STEM fields keeps our society from fully utilizing human capital and is of great concern to researchers, educators, and the general public. Sub-disciplines of STEM vary in their culture and climate, training and preparation required, and the type of work activities involved. The percentages of women across subfields of STEM vary vastly. To build a more balanced and competitive workforce, we need to gain a better understanding about the psychological and socio-cultural factors that contribute to the differential participation of women across STEM sub-disciplines. Investigating why women are scarce in some STEM fields but not in others may offer us insight into how to increase women’s overall representation in STEM
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