Representation In STEM Fields Research Articles

We Are STEM: Examining the Significance and Influence of Counterspaces in the Development of Black Girls’ STEM Identity

Existing literature has focused on a variety of factors leading to the underrepresentation of Black girls in STEM such as a lack of engagement and encouragement during formative school years, racial and gender biases, as well as student and teacher perceptions of academic abilities. However, there remains a gap when examining the impact of counterspaces on Black girls’ STEM identity development and its influence on their desires to pursue STEM degrees and STEM careers leading to increased representation in STEM fields. As STEM identity remains a powerful indicator of Black girls’ success in persisting in STEM fields, understanding the role of counterspaces in influencing Black girls’ STEM identity development is of critical significance. This conceptual article utilizes the frameworks of Critical Race Feminism (CRF) and Sociotransformative Constructivism as a lens to examine how counterspaces can serve as sites where Black girls challenge deficit notions about themselves as STEM learners that will contribute to building their self-perceptions and aid in the development of their STEM identity. Utilizing a literature review, this conceptual article will examine theoretical and empirical research that will guide me in the examination of the influence of counterspaces in the development of Black girls’ STEM identity. This article concludes with the implications of the need for counterspaces within PK-12 settings that can serve as sites where Black girls’ STEM identities can be cultivated and nurtured.

Gender Differences in Math and Science Academic Self-Concepts and the Association With Female Climate in 8th Grade Classrooms

Although women’s representation in STEM fields and occupations has increased, science and math continue to be stereotyped as male domains. This paper links psychological and sociological explanations for gendered disparities in STEM by examining the relationship between the local “micro-situational” female learning environment and the gender gap in academic self-concept in math and science. We applied hybrid models to TIMSS 2015 data comprised of a pseudo-panel of repeated measures for individual student and peer achievement, academic self-concept, utility value, and interest-enjoyment value in math/science (at age 14). We analyzed data from three countries, including a subsample of students who were taught by the same teacher in both math and science, thus eliminating unobserved teacher heterogeneity. Results indicate that female peer climate in the classroom is important for understanding how girls’ self-concept in math/science is formed, even though it was unrelated to the gender gap.

Perception of work in the IT sector among men and women-A comparison between IT students and IT professionals.

Lack of gender balance within STEM fields is caused by many complex factors, some of which are related to the fact that women do not perceive certain occupations as congruent with their career and personal goals. Although there is a large body of research regarding women in STEM, there is a gap concerning perception of occupations within different STEM industries. IT is a domain where skilled employees are constantly in demand. Even though the overall female representation in STEM fields is rising and that the IT industry is undertaking numerous interventions to attract women to careers in IT, the representation of women in this domain is still disappointingly low. Therefore, the goal of our study was to examine the possible differences among male and female IT and non-IT students and employees in terms of their perception of IT and other key factors influencing the feeling of aptness of IT as a potential sector one's career: goal congruence, sense of belonging and self-efficacy. In this paper we present the results of a study conducted in Poland among working IT professionals (N = 205) and IT students (N = 127) that we compare with individuals from non-IT sectors (N = 222 employees, 107 students). Our results showed significant gender differences between IT students and IT professionals. We found that communal goals are more important for IT employees than for IT students (both male and female) and that a sense of social belonging is stronger among female IT employees than among male IT employees and IT students. Women employed in IT also had the same level of sense of social belonging as women in non-IT group. These findings suggest that after entering IT positions, women's perception of the domain might become potentially more favorable and attuned with their needs. We also found that female IT students value agentic goals more than communal goals which was not the case for female IT employees. The results highlight the importance of investigating women's perception of the IT sector at different levels of career in terms of their goals and other work-related variables. Such lines of research will help develop more effective interventions in attracting women to enter the IT field.

Gender representation cues labels of hard and soft sciences

While women's representation in STEM fields has increased over the past several decades, some fields have seen a greater increase women's participation than others. In the present research, we explore how women's participation in STEM disciplines influences labeling of those disciplines as hard vs. soft sciences. Study 1 found that increasing perceived participation of women in a STEM discipline increased the likelihood that participants would label it a soft science. Study 2 found that among people who did not work in science, this tendency to associate women's participation with soft science was correlated with endorsement of stereotypes about women's STEM competency. And Studies 3A and 3B showed that labeling disciplines as soft sciences led to the fields being devalued, deemed less rigorous, and less worthy of federal funding. These studies show that stereotypes about women's STEM competency can impact perceptions of fields in which women participate, with consequences for how scientific disciplines are perceived.

We need to address ableism in science.

In science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, disabled people remain a significantly underrepresented part of the workforce. Recent data suggests that about 20% of undergraduates in the United States have disabilities, but representation in STEM fields is consistently lower than in the general population. Of those earning STEM degrees, only about 10% of undergraduates, 6% of graduate students, and 2% of doctoral students identify as disabled. This suggests that STEM fields have difficulty recruiting and retaining disabled students, which ultimately hurts the field, because disabled scientists bring unique problem-solving perspectives and input. This essay briefly explores the ways in which ableism—prejudice against disabled people based on the assumption that they are “less than” their nondisabled peers—in research contributes to the exclusion of disabled scientists and suggests ways in which the scientific community can improve accessibility and promote the inclusion of disabled scientists in academic science.

Turing's children: Representation of sexual minorities in STEM.

We provide nationally representative estimates of sexual minority representation in STEM fields by studying 142,641 men and women in same-sex couples from the 2009-2018 American Community Surveys. These data indicate that men in same-sex couples are 12 percentage points less likely to have completed a bachelor's degree in a STEM field compared to men in different-sex couples. On the other hand, there is no gap observed for women in same-sex couples compared to women in different-sex couples. The STEM degree gap between men in same-sex and different-sex couples is larger than the STEM degree gap between all white and black men but is smaller than the gender gap in STEM degrees. We also document a smaller but statistically significant gap in STEM occupations between men in same-sex and different-sex couples, and we replicate this finding by comparing heterosexual and gay men using independently drawn data from the 2013-2018 National Health Interview Surveys. These differences persist after controlling for demographic characteristics, location, and fertility. Finally, we document that gay male representation in STEM fields (measured using either degrees or occupations) is systematically and positively associated with female representation in those same STEM fields.

A National Portrait of STEM Trajectories Through Two- and Four-Year Hispanic Serving Institutions


 
 
 Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) are critical in advancing postsecondary outcomes for Latinx and other historically underrepresented and racially minoritized students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) to promote diversity, innovation, and excellence in STEM fields. Despite rich opportunities for improving college access, retention, degree attainment, and representation in STEM fields, the role of two- and four-year HSIs in STEM pathways has been under-emphasized. Utilizing a nationally-representative sample, this article explores the undergraduate profiles and outcomes of STEM majors who begin postsecondary education at two- and four-year HSIs. While there are observable differences in student outcomes across HSIs and non-HSIs at both the two- and four-year levels, we must take a deeper look to better understand how these institutional contexts impact STEM trajectories across two- and four- year HSIs. Ultimately, these outcomes are just one piece of the overall picture toward HSIs intentionally serving Latinx students and advancing STEM pathways.
 
 

The effects of male peers on the educational outcomes of female college students in STEM: Experimental evidence from partnerships in Chemistry courses.

A major concern among universities around the world is that female students face gender bias, discrimination and related barriers in male-dominated STEM fields. To investigate this concern, we conducted a novel large-scale experiment of interactions between female and male students in one of the most important gateway courses for the Sciences and a course in which students interact one-on-one extensively throughout the term. Over the past four years, at a large public research university, we randomly paired every student enrolled in an introductory Chemistry lab (3,902 students and total N = 5,537). Using precise estimates from the experiment, we provide novel evidence that female students are not negatively affected academically by male partners. When assigned a male partner, female students do not receive lower scores or grades, and they are no more likely to drop the course or not continue in Chemistry or a STEM field. We also find that academically weaker female students are not negatively affected by male students and that female students are not negatively affected when paired with academically stronger male students. Although previous studies have documented that female students self-report experiencing gender bias from male peers in STEM, importantly, we do not find evidence that female students are negatively affected by male peers in intensive, long-term pairwise interactions in their course grades or future STEM course taking. The findings provide hopeful news for future trends in female representation in STEM fields.

The Three Harms of Gendered Technology

Marginalised groups experience both immediate and long-term detriment as a result of innovations in information systems. This paper explores three facets of technologically related gendered harm: physical, institutional, and psychological. These harms will be demonstrated by case studies. Firstly, technology can cause physical harm by denying women their bodily autonomy, demonstrated by the public availability of AI software that generates nude pictures of women, and smart home devices used in instances of domestic abuse. Secondly, technology can deny women institutional access, as increasingly widespread algorithms are shown to underperform on marginalised groups. Thirdly, anthropomorphised technology reflects and entrenches harmful stereotypes of women’s submissiveness, causing psychological harm. Reducing harm must go beyond ensuring a diversity of representation in STEM fields. We conclude that effective regulation should focus on the design features in technological innovations.

Parenting in the field of myrmecology: career challenges in the 21st century

Female representation in STEM fields is often explained by the leaky pipeline metaphor, and previous work has shown that the arrival of children is one of the main causes. Thus, understanding how the arrival of children can impact the careers of scientists in the field of myrmecology could provide insight into how to promote a better policy to support women in the sciences and reduce gender disparity. Therefore, we aimed to 1) understand myrmecologist parents and identify the challenges they face, and 2) compare academic productivity between parents and the control groups (researchers without children). Our results indicate that even though myrmecologist parents work less at home, they maintain productivity in activities that are part of the regular academic research routine (such as publishing manuscripts, submitting grant proposals, advising mentees, and teaching classes). However, even after five years of their children’s arrival, activities such as field trips, public speaking and conference attendence are still affected. This is the first study about parenting in the field of myrmecology, and our findings can help funding agencies and institutions promote the best policies, workplace flexibility, and inclusivity to support parents in science, especially women.

Exploring the Gender Gap in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and Soft Skills, and Knowledge of Role of Models Among Students in Rural Uganda

Background: Globally, women’s representation in STEM fields remains significantly lower than that of men. Studies assessing the STEM gender gap in disadvantaged rural-based schools are lacking.Objective: To examine the gender differences in attitudes towards STEM and soft skills, and knowledge of role models among students of Nakivale secondary school in Nakivale refugee settlement, southwestern Uganda.Methods: We employed a cross sectional study design that administered pilot tested questionnaires to 111 secondary school students in Nakivale secondary school.Results: More girls than boys reported negative attitudes towards STEM. Both boys and girls demonstrated low attitudes towards the 21st century skills (such as goal setting, leadership skills, team work skills, time management and computer/internet skills), low intentions of pursuing STEM-related subjects in future, as well as limited exposure to STEM role models.Implication: Interventions to address girls’ negative attitudes towards STEM, improve students’ 21st century skills, develop students’ interest in STEM subjects/careers, and link students to role models are urgently needed especially in marginalized areas such as refugee settlements.

Still a “Stalled Revolution”? Work/Family Experiences, Hegemonic Masculinity, and Moving Toward Gender Equality

AbstractHochschild described the “stalled revolution” in the late 1980s: women made great gains in labor force opportunities, particularly in stereotypically “masculine” fields, yet men did not move comparably into “feminine” roles. This article examines the current “stalls” in the gender equality movement regarding gendered experiences at work and home, including occupations, the gender wage gap, career trajectories, and the division of household labor. This article also discusses efforts to “unstall” the gender revolution. Pop culture solutions on the individual‐level and academic research on structural/cultural barriers often focus on women's access to historically “masculine” roles (e.g. representation in STEM fields). There is far less emphasis on men's involvement in historically “feminine” roles. Gender scholars examine hegemonic masculinity as the narrowly constrained expectations for men's “appropriate” behavior. While efforts to “unstall” the gender revolution focus largely on expanding women's opportunities, this article addresses why the gender revolution will remain incomplete and “stalled” without redefining hegemonic masculinity. Cross‐national research demonstrates that changing views of masculinity are critical for greater gender equality at work and home.

Book Review: Toys and Tools in Pink: Cultural Narratives of Gender, Science, and Technology by Carole Colatrella

Author(s): Lehman, Kathleen J. | Abstract: This book review summaries and analyzes Carol Colatrella's book titled Toys and Tools in Pink: Cultural Narratives of Gender, Science, and Technology. Colatrella adds a new dimension to the conversation about women's representation in STEM fields through close readings of literature and visual media that portray women in these fields.