Structural and Cultural Barriers and Leaky Pipelines: Careers of Women in Geosciences

Abstract

STEM fields, including Geosciences, continue to be male-dominated. Unlike other STEM disciplines, the field of Geosciences has successfully improved gender balance in undergraduate degrees. Nevertheless, the field continues to struggle to retain women. To understand the retention challenge in Geoscience careers, we interviewed 67 men and women geoscientists in academia, industry, and government at different career stages. We found structural and cultural barriers for women to continue in the geoscience careers. We also studied strategies used by individuals and organizations to manage these challenges. However, we found that women's survival strategies helped them cope as individuals but contributed to leaky or blocked pipelines and perpetuated hyper-masculinized culture. Women's strategies to change the context addressed the family gender norms and attempted to improve the culture for themselves and others. Organizational responses revolved around enabling strategies to retain women and culture change strategies to provide a culturally safe environment. While successful strategies benefitted both men and women, strategies that made gender salient often came with unintended consequences. We also found that structural and cultural challenges contributed to leaks in the pipeline.