Math achievement is important, but task values are critical, too: examining the intellectual and motivational factors leading to gender disparities in STEM careers.

Ming-Te Wang,Feifei Ye,Jessica Degol

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00036

Abstract

Although young women now obtain higher course grades in math than boys and are just as likely to be enrolled in advanced math courses in high school, females continue to be underrepresented in some Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) occupations. This study drew on expectancy-value theory to assess (1) which intellectual and motivational factors in high school predict gender differences in career choices and (2) whether students’ motivational beliefs mediated the pathway of gender on STEM career via math achievement by using a national longitudinal sample in the United States. We found that math achievement in 12th grade mediated the association between gender and attainment of a STEM career by the early to mid-thirties. However, math achievement was not the only factor distinguishing gender differences in STEM occupations. Even though math achievement explained career differences between men and women, math task value partially explained the gender differences in STEM career attainment that were attributed to math achievement. The identification of potential factors of women’s underrepresentation in STEM will enhance our ability to design intervention programs that are optimally tailored to female needs to impact STEM achievement and occupational choices.

Highlights

Girls obtain higher course grades in math than boys and are just as likely to be enrolled in advanced math courses in high school, females continue to be underrepresented in some Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) occupations (National Science Foundation, 2011)
We conducted hierarchical logistic regression to examine which intellectual and motivational factors were predictive of STEM careers and contributed to gender disparities in selection of STEM occupations, controlling for child gender and race, parent education, and parent STEM employment
In order to elucidate the factors associated with females’ underrepresentation in STEM, the current study examined which factors predicted gender differences in the selection of STEM occupations, and whether math task values and altruism mediated the pathway of the gender effect on STEM career choice through math achievement

Summary

Introduction

Girls obtain higher course grades in math than boys and are just as likely to be enrolled in advanced math courses in high school, females continue to be underrepresented in some Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) occupations (National Science Foundation, 2011). Career aspirations based on individual competencies, values, and perceived compatibility of competencies and values, are formulated in adolescence and shape the academic pathways that lead to the STEM pipeline (Tai et al, 2006). In order to prevent many talented and capable young women from opting out of the STEM pipeline, it is important to identify the intellectual and psychological factors that surface in the elementary and secondary school years and predict later career choice (Maltese and Tai, 2011; Ceci et al, 2014). Our ability to design intervention programs to impact STEM achievement and occupational choices through these factors will be more optimally tailored to females

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