Abstract
An agent-based model is proposed and tested. This model aims to simulate agency as conceptualized in Bandura's (Am Psychol 37:122–147, 1982; Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 50:248–287; Annu Rev Psychol 52: 1–26) Social cognitive theory. Social cognitive theory has been used to explain the continued underrepresentation of females in certain fields, most notably fields that are associated with engineering and technology. The theory proposes that agents acquire information from four different sources, and then, through a process of reciprocal interaction, these agents develop their perception of self-efficacy. In this study, an agent-based model is used to model this interaction. The output from the simulation supports the validity of the model used and illustrates how agency "emerges" from the triadic interaction. The model successfully simulates several of the theorized aspects of social cognitive theory. The simulation results reveal that even small gendered differences can lead to female misrepresentation in certain fields. The model also shows that female discouragement plays a larger role than male encouragement in female underrepresentation. The implications of these results are discussed. Finally, the limitations of the model are discussed, along with directions for future research.
Highlights
Female tertiary students outnumber their male counterparts in many countries in the world
The simulation results reveal that even small gendered differences can lead to female misrepresentation in certain fields
This increase in the means is due to the fact that females who start with higher values of the sources with regards to their efficacy in Science-Technology would end up picking another occupational category
Summary
Female tertiary students outnumber their male counterparts in many countries in the world. Data pertaining to U.S colleges in 2015 show that females earn more than half of Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees (Snyder et al 2016) This same pattern is observed in most Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries (OECD 2019). Today there exists a vast array of studies that seek to study why female students steer away from what is collectively called STEM fields: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (Master et al 2017; Schuster and Martiny 2017; Sáinz and Eccles 2012) This phenomenon is especially concerning since a significant number of studies have found no gender differences in mathematical abilities (Else-Quest et al 2010; Hyde et al 1990a, b; Hyde and Linn 2006; Lindberg et al 2010). The purpose of this paper is to develop and test an agent-based model that simulates the triadic interaction process as conceptualized in Bandura’s (1982, 2001) theory
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