Abstract
The goal of the following study is to investigate whether first-year students in STEM fields that have a low proportion of females (STEM-L) show vocational interests that fit their vocational aspirations. To place our investigation into a broader context, we compared students in STEM-L with students of STEM subjects with a medium proportion of women (STEM-M) as well as with other subjects with a medium or a high proportion of females. We analyzed their vocational interests, vocational aspirations and their interest congruence. In both the comparison regarding interest profiles and the comparison of vocational aspirations, we focused on the things-orientation and people-orientation, all while taking respective gender differences into account. Following the suggestion from previous studies, in a further step we differentiated between subjects within STEM-L. Using data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), we analyzed the interest congruence of 5,530 male and 7,406 female students in STEM majors (with a low or medium proportion of women) and non-STEM majors (with a medium or high proportion of women). Students from different subjects showed different magnitudes regarding their things- and people-orientation. STEM-L students had a high things-orientation and a low people-orientation regarding both their interests and aspired occupations. Students of STEM-L and STEM-M showed a lower interest congruence than students from other subjects. With the exception of education, gender differences regarding the people- and things-orientation also existed within most of the subjects. Gender differences partly remain when distinguishing between the different subjects within STEM-L. And so, the result that not all STEM-L subjects are “created equal” is discussed in the context of their theoretical and methodological aspects.
Highlights
CONTEXTS OF FEMALES IN STEMScience and technology are drivers of societal benefit
One of the most astonishing outcomes of this study is its low congruence of all students in STEM-L and the even lower congruence of males in STEM-M
This indicates a worse fit between individual interests and the vocational aspirations of students in these areas compared to students in other areas
Summary
CONTEXTS OF FEMALES IN STEMScience and technology are drivers of societal benefit. This is one of the reasons why the EU Commission established the goal of increasing the number of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) graduates (Hingel et al, 2008, p. 10). The proportion of students enrolled in STEM subjects hasn’t noticeably changed within the past decade (Eurostat, 2018), and the proportion of females in STEM remains low (Eurostat, 2018). This phenomenon requires a deeper look into the STEM subjects and the students (both female and male) who take. Publications from the United States (e.g., Su and Rounds, 2015) include social sciences. These gray areas provide challenges when analyzing gendered pathways into STEM. Any analysis that focuses on females in STEM needs to acknowledge that there is variance even within the STEM fields themselves
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