Women In STEM Fields Research Articles

“Dear future woman of STEM”: letters of advice from women in STEM

BackgroundAlthough a large body of research has identified challenges faced by women in STEM fields and strategies to improve the experience for women in STEM, little of this research has examined which strategies undergraduate women would recommend to their peers. In the current study, undergraduate women in STEM fields (N = 89) wrote letters to younger women in STEM about their experiences. The participants were recruited from a small public liberal arts college and a large public research institution in the United States. Participants were juniors and seniors majoring in engineering, mathematics, computer science, physics, biological or biomedical sciences, and chemistry.ResultsUsing thematic analysis, we identified seven types of advice. The participants shared advice about improving academically, forming communities, finding family support, and seeking out women role models. They also provided general words of encouragement and reassured women that everyone struggles, and failure is not indicative of their potential. In some cases, the letters were consistent with themes from prior research; however, other influences that have been studied by quantitative research were not prominent in women’s own advice to their fellow students. For example, although the letters focused on communal themes such as building community, they did not focus on the communal goal of helping others through their careers. Additionally, they highlighted the role of family, which has been relatively neglected in prior work.ConclusionsThe present research highlights which empirically supported theories about retention and success in STEM are reflected in students’ advice to others. These letters also provide insight into which obstacles and solutions were most salient for women students looking back on their undergraduate STEM careers. The women’s letters provide a rich understanding of how women navigate STEM fields and what they would tell future students about persisting in those fields.

Women in STEM Education and Employment: Insights from University Students in Morocco

Worldwide, women represent 35% of all students enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. In Morocco, 42.2% of women are engineering graduates. This study aims to investigate university students’ attitudes, experiences, and awareness about men and women in STEM education and employment. An online questionnaire was adopted to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Using convenient sampling, 181 STEM university students participated in this study from four different institutions in Morocco which are: Faculty of Sciences and Techniques in Tangiers, The School of Technology in Essaouira, Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Sciences in Rabat, and the Higher School of Technical Education in Mohammadia. The findings show that the majority of students (83.2%) do not perceive the STEM fields as typically masculine. A minority (6.7%) believes that some professors behave differently with male and female students. Moreover, most respondents (55.6%) were not aware of the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields and were unable to recognize the importance of their contributions to fixing society’s challenges. This study, therefore, is relevant for decision makers in higher educational institutions to reconsider the methods and contents of STEM education in order to enhance a gender responsive pedagogy

WISE National Conference 2023: Leaders of Tomorrow

Our goal at Women in Science and Engineering – University of Toronto Chapter is to support and empower all women in STEM fields and to help them achieve their full potential as future engineers, entrepreneurs, scientists, and leaders. Since its inception in 1999, the organization has developed into one of the largest and highly regarded campus organizations with over 1500 members to champion gender equity, counter biases, and build confidence in all STEM fields. Our annual National Conference aims to empower and inspire individuals to pursue their passions, explore new opportunities, and to make meaningful, lasting connections. One of the events we hold at the conference is the 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, which challenges undergraduate and graduate delegates to present their research in three minutes with one static slide to a non-specialist audience. This abstract book features the research that some of the 3MT competitors presented at the WISE National Conference 2023.

WISE National Conference 2023: Leaders of Tomorrow

Our goal at Women in Science and Engineering – University of Toronto Chapter is to support and empower all women in STEM fields and to help them achieve their full potential as future engineers, entrepreneurs, scientists, and leaders. Since its inception in 1999, the organization has developed into one of the largest and highly regarded campus organizations with over 1500 members to champion gender equity, counter biases, and build confidence in all STEM fields. Our annual National Conference aims to empower and inspire individuals to pursue their passions, explore new opportunities, and to make meaningful, lasting connections. One of the events we hold at the conference is the 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, which challenges undergraduate and graduate delegates to present their research in three minutes with one static slide to a non-specialist audience. This abstract book features the research that some of the 3MT competitors presented at the WISE National Conference 2023.

Breaking Barriers: Understanding and Overcoming Societal, Institutional, and Cultural Health Challenges for Women in STEM Fields

Breaking Barriers: Understanding and Overcoming Societal, Institutional, and Cultural Health Challenges for Women in STEM Fields

A New Growth Engine for Japan: Women in STEM Fields

A New Growth Engine for Japan: Women in STEM Fields

Gender and/or Religiosity? – Intersectional approach to the challenges of religious women in STEM fields

This paper aims to extend the discussion on intersectionality by focusing on the intersection between gender and religiosity while addressing the main challenges which face young religious Jewish women in Israel who have chosen the STEM path. The paper is based on a qualitative narrative analysis of in-depth interviews with 45 participants (female Jewish religious students, their mothers, and secondary school science teachers). The findings revealed six structural challenges faced by young religious women in the STEM path: 1) difficulties in managing a healthy balance between family and career; 2) alienation; 3) disapprobative environmental reaction in the religious community; 4) lack of female religious role models; 5) Jewish religious traditions as a limiting factor when competing with secular counterparts; and 6) the paradox of the supportive environment in all-female religious secondary schools. According to the women’s narratives, the religiosity component in some challenges is more salient and pronounced than gender.

The Gender Inequality and Participation of Women in Stem Fields

It is both important and interesting to highlight the role of women in the general development of countries nowadays. Beyond the efforts done by the policymakers and the civil society towards empowering and inclusion of women in political, social, and economic life, Albania is amongst those countries that have a long road ahead to really improve the gender equality situation. This paper studies the relationship between the Gender Inequality Index and the number of women graduates in the STEM field, trying to reveal what kind of correlation exists between them. The instruments used are descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. The main result is: there is a statistically significant linear relationship between the two variables.

Plugging the Leaky Pipeline:A Qualitative Investigation of Untenured Female Faculty in STEM

The current study set out to highlight the voices and stories of 129 female-identifying assistant professors in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) who responded to open-ended questions regarding their perceived barriers, supports, and experiences on their journey toward tenure. The current study utilized Consensual Qualitative Research-Modified (CQR-M; Spangler et al., 2012 ) for the methodology and data analysis, as the current study included a relatively large number of women and brief qualitative data. Responses fell into four domains: barriers, supports, needed resources, and miscellaneous responses. Additionally, responses were compared between women in STEM fields with higher percentages of female faculty versus STEM fields with lower percentages of female faculty, with results indicating that women in STEM fields with lower gender equality reported more gender discrimination, more difficult colleagues, and less institutional or administrative supports and policies. Future directions and clinical implications are discussed.

Resilient women scientists and the COVID-19 pandemic: an OWSD analysis.

Pandemics tend to have disruptive and uneven impacts on different population subgroups and across sectors. This paper investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women scientists from the Global South to understand their resilience and adaptation strategies, utilising data from a survey of women in STEM fields, who are members of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD). We employ a mixed-methods approach to examine the effects of the pandemic on the respondents’ work and employment, home and family lives, and mental well-being. We find that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the requirement to change practices in academia, indeed in all spheres of social and economic life, have provided a unique and most timely opportunity to observe, evaluate and revise what might be termed the current gender-limited environment for career progression for researchers in STEM subjects and instead create a gender-transformative environment that will have a profound effect on how scientific research is managed and undertaken in the world.

Gender gap in reservation wages and the choice of education field

ABSTRACT I examine the gap in reservation wages between men and women who enter the labour market for the first time and link it to the choice of education field by gender. Using data from 2006 to 2015 Labour Force Survey for Poland, I show that men and women with the same education value their qualifications differently, which points to behavioural differences by gender. The gender difference in returns to education fields is found to be the single most important predictor of the gender gap in reservation wages. Women educated in mathematics, IT and physics are found to report higher reservation wages than other women and there is no difference in pay expectations between them and men. The results contribute to the discussion on the importance of a higher presence of women in STEM fields as a way of achieving greater gender equality in the labour markets.

Belonging and Masculinities: Proposal of a Conceptual Framework to Study the Reasons behind the Gender Gap in Engineering

The low participation of women in STEM fields is well-known and has been well documented around the world. Closing this gap plays a central role in achieving a more equal society and thus sustainable development. The gender gap in STEM must be understood as a complex problem which can be explained through various factors (cultural, economic, and social) and therefore requires the efforts of different disciplines and actors. This article proposes that the hegemonic masculinity theory together with the concept of belonging, understood from the point of view of feminist studies and cultural studies, can contribute a necessary conceptual framework for understanding the causes behind the gender gap in engineering.

Overview of Current After School - OST STEM Programs for Girls

Historically, there has been a gender gap within the STEM pipeline, resulting in the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields. Current efforts, both within and outside of educational institutions, have been developed to target girls’ specific needs with the aim of supporting girls' interest and engagement in STEM. The following paper examines the social and cultural factors that perpetuate the gender gap in STEM. It also provides a review and critique of six existing Canadian Out of School Time (OST) STEM programs and the principles used in their development and implementation. Conclusions from this review suggest that OST programs, when developed using best practices, may play a crucial role in encouraging girls to pursue a STEM career. Four primary best practices include: social and collaborative learning, topics related to girls' interests, development of STEM identity, and length of the program (for example, programs done over a longer period of time are generally more effective than programs completed over a shorter duration). Although the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some of these programs to migrate online, these four promising practices transcend face-to-face versus online boundaries. As a result, programs should continue to follow these pedagogical approaches to foster girls' interests in STEM.
 Keywords: gender inequality, out of school time programs, social learning, STEM education, STEM programming

Negotiating doctoral STEM studies: An In-depth look at the Black woman impostor

This qualitative study investigated how the impostor syndrome influenced Black women's experiences pursuing terminal degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at a research institution in the southwestern United States. As a Black female researcher engaging with participants through one-on-one interviews, I used Collins’s (2006) Black Feminist Thought (BFT) tenets to collect and analyze data to understand the participants' doctoral journey. Race and gender regularly intersected to shape how they experienced the impostor syndrome during their doctoral journey. Findings revealed participants with low or moderate impostor feelings tended to have positive experiences while those who had frequent or intense impostor feelings had a more tumultuous academic journey. This study does not only highlight the need for continued research on reducing the impostor syndrome's influence on doctoral women in STEM fields but challenges higher education institutions to make concerted efforts to address their needs.

Critical feminist analysis of STEM mentoring programs: A meta‐synthesis of the existing literature

AbstractWe conducted a meta‐synthesis review of existing literature on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) mentoring programs for women. Critical feminist theory (CFT) was used to understand how mentoring programs support retention and occupational advancement of women in traditionally male‐dominated STEM fields. Four primary strands of CFT were explored: gender, oppression/patriarchy, social institutions, and systemic change. Traditional models of mentoring encompass varied approaches, including institutionally enforced programs, formal and informal programs, paired peer grouping, as well as face‐to‐face and online forums. However, low levels of retention and self‐stated lack of professional satisfaction for women in STEM fields continue to plague those professions. This study reviews the literature on mentoring programs that have been implemented to support women in STEM, thus adding to the epistemology of mentoring women in STEM through feminist discourse.

Increasing Girls’ STEM Engagement in Early Childhood: Conditions Created by the Conceptual PlayWorld Model

As societal needs change and STEM solutions are offered, an increasing concern for the participation of girls in STEM has emerged. Research has consistently shown the unintended preferential treatment of boys by teachers during STEM teaching and, although well recognised, has seen limited change over the past decades. Gendered interactions, including microaggressions, influence girls’ identity formation from a young age, leading to a decrease in girls’ STEM participation. This results in the ongoing trend of underrepresentation of women in STEM fields due to underlying gender equity issues. To improve this gender gap, it is important to consider the beginning of the STEM pipeline, the early stages of education. Drawing upon the system of concepts from the cultural-historical theory, this study explores the motivating conditions created by the Conceptual PlayWorld model for girls’ engagement in STEM in the early years. Using a holistic study design, video observations of interactions and experiences within and outside the Conceptual PlayWorld were gathered from two preschool teachers and 13 children aged 2.3–3.2 years. Findings support previous research regarding the accumulation of microaggressions in free-play settings that position girls away from STEM activity. These are minimised inside the Conceptual PlayWorld due to the changed role of the teacher. It is argued that the possibilities afforded by this model positively shift interactional patterns to create motivating conditions for girls in STEM, allowing both girls and boys the opportunity to have a strong engagement and interest in STEM from the very beginning.

WISE National Conference 2021: Connections - Together from Afar

Our goal at Women in Science and Engineering – University of Toronto Chapter is to support and empower all women in STEM fields and to help them achieve their full potential as future engineers, entrepreneurs, scientists, and leaders. Since its inception in 1999, the organization has developed into one of the largest and highly regarded campus organizations with over 1500 members to champion gender equity, counter biases, and build confidence in all STEM fields. Our annual National Conference aims to empower and inspire individuals to pursue their passions, explore new opportunities, and to make meaningful, lasting connections. One of the events we hold at the conference is the 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, which challenges undergraduate and graduate delegates to present their research in 3 minutes with one static slide to a non-specialist audience. This abstract book features the research that some of the 3MT competitors presented at the WISE NC 2021.

Disability and Invisibility in STEM Education

Across STEM fields, the education system continues to “weed out” students from non-dominant communities. Most studies on the damaging effects of underrepresentation focus on minorities or women in STEM fields. We examine some of the research about students with disabilities and note the limited literature on this subject. University enrollment by students with disabilities has increased in the last two decades while the amount of corresponding research published has decreased. This issue should not be siloed to disability studies- it is one that must be recognized by all educators. We conclude with some practical suggestions on how to move forward.

Women Faculty in STEM Disciplines: Experiences with the Tenure Process and Departmental Practices

Using data from a national survey of tenure-track faculty job satisfaction, the purpose of the study is to explore predictors of perceptions of tenure clarity for faculty in STEM and non-STEM fields. We build on extant studies and use the gendered organization framework as the conceptual lens to examine whether for four groups of faculty (women and men in STEM, and women and men in non-STEM) assessment of fairness in tenure decisions and evaluations, messages about tenure requirements, mentoring, and relationships with peers have a similar effect on their assessment of tenure clarity. Bivariate findings reveal that compared to all other faculty, women in STEM fields are less likely to perceive the expectations for tenure as clear, and the messages about tenure requirements as consistent. Compared to men in both STEM and non-STEM fields, women in STEM are less likely to assess tenure decisions and evaluations as fair, mentoring as effective, and relationships with peers as satisfactory. Multivariate results show that for women in STEM, except for relationships with peers, all other independent variables significantly influence their assessment of tenure clarity. Policy and practice recommendations are discussed.

Non-routine problem solving through the lens of self-efficacy

ABSTRACT This study involved an intervention designed to examine whether employability prospects for STEM students studying mathematics could be improved. It incorporated use of non-routine problem solving in second-year mathematics courses at two New Zealand universities. From a theoretical standpoint, we conceptualised a novel construct called lateral thinking self-efficacy, which is defined as a learner’s confidence in their ability to solve non-routine problems. It relates to the creative thinking ability needed for solving innovative real-life problems in the work place, and hence is pertinent in transfer of mathematical learning to novel domains. The findings suggest that the attitude profiles of students with high and low lateral thinking self-efficacy differ significantly with respect to three dimensions spanning their affective domain. Further, a significant difference between genders with regard to lateral thinking self-efficacy was observed, with a significantly greater proportion of confident males than females, although there was no significant association between gender and non-routine problem-solving performance. These results raise questions about equity with regard to employability prospects for females in STEM companies and have implications for the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields.