Abstract
The present qualitative study analyzes how a group of young people already involved in STEM fields perceive the prototypical person working in STEM. Gender differences between participants in technological and non-technological STEM fields were analyzed. A total of 27 young people (59.3% women) took part in the interviews (Mean Age = 25.48 years). Of them, 16 participants were working in STEM professions, and 11 were enrolled in the final courses of STEM degrees. The results of the content analysis were examined in light of social role theory and the multidimensional structure of gender stereotypes. Men in these fields were therefore attributed an unappealing and weird physical appearance. Some female participants linked STEM professionals’ intellectual abilities to the stereotype that men have higher abilities in these fields. Whereas females attributed effort and perseverance to STEM professionals’ intellectual aptitudes, males referred to the development of soft skills. Participants in technological STEM fields connected the stereotype of being a ‘weirdo’ to a boring job, whereas those in non-technological fields linked it to their unconventional character. Some participants were disappointed by a lack of correspondence between expectations and the actual job STEM professionals do. Moreover, females in technological STEM fields commented on the job’s low social impact, while males mentioned low attainment of technical qualifications. Most referents in STEM fields were masculine, some of whom were present in the mass media. The practical implications of the findings are discussed.
Highlights
Our society has experienced important advances in terms of equality thanks to the efforts deployed to achieve an egalitarian education among young people
Whereas the prototypical image associated with most people in these STEM fields had a positive formal look, computer and physical scientists were mainly associated by some participants with a ‘weird’ and sometimes negative unattractive physical image (‘untidy,’ ‘careless,’ ‘with uncombed hair,’ or ‘pale skin’)
In general terms and congruent with the multidimensional structure of gender stereotypes (Deaux and Lewis, 1984; Eagly, 2001), the results of the present study confirm the co-existence of various stereotypical attributes about people working in different STEM fields, both technologically and non-technologically oriented
Summary
Our society has experienced important advances in terms of equality thanks to the efforts deployed to achieve an egalitarian education among young people. We continue observing a marked gender gap in the academic and professional aspirations that young people develop during secondary education (Wang and Degol, 2013; Sáinz and Müller, 2018). They have nearly attained equality with men in several formerly male-dominated fields, women remain underrepresented in several fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), (Wang and Degol, 2013; UNESCO, 2017). According to the Spanish Ministry of Education (MECD, 2018), during the 2016–2017 academic year women represented only 17, 17.39, and 11.83% of the student enrollments in computer science, electrical and energy engineering, and electronics and automation technologies, respectively. Women outnumbered men in disciplines related to the provision of healthcare, such as medicine or pharmacy, representing 65.8 and 69.58% of total enrollments in these studies, respectively
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