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A Protocol to Assess Contextual Factors During Program Impact Evaluation: A Case Study of a STEM Gender Equity Intervention in Higher Education Open PDF
(2023)
Nobrega, S
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Edwards, K
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El Ghaziri, M
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Giacobbe, L
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Rice, S
Program evaluations that lack experimental design often fail to produce evidence of impact because there is no available control group. Theory-based evaluations can generate evidence of a program's causal effects if evaluators collect evidence along the theorized causal chain and identify possible competing causes. However, few methods are available for assessing competing causes in the program environment. Effect Modifier Assessment (EMA) is a method previously used in smaller-scale studies to assess possible competing causes of observed changes following an intervention. In our case study of a university gender equity intervention, EMA generated useful evidence of competing causes to augment program evaluation. Top-down administrative culture, poor experiences with hiring and promotion, and workload were identified as impeding forces that might have reduced program benefits. The EMA addresses a methodological gap in theory-based evaluation and might be useful in a variety of program settings.
Evaluating the research performance of women scientists in Indian research laboratories based on Scopus citation database: A bibliometric analysis
(2022)
Mukherjee, B.
This study examines the contributions of women scientists currently working in various research organizations under the Ministry of Science and Technology, India. Women scientists were identified through the official websites of the research laboratories and their publication performance has been tracked using the Scopus database. There are 901 women scientists working in 78 research organizations under the Ministry and have published 21810 publications up to December 2019, almost 65 percent of which has been appeared during 2010 to 2019. The publication per scientist has risen from 6.85 article per year before 2000 to 10.45 paper in 2015-2019 which indicates increasing participation of women in science from India. Women scientists are primarily engaged in biological sciencesresearch, however fields such as materials sciences, nano-technology, and astrophysics are also becoming the preferred subject choices among women. Women scientists mostly published their articles as a member of a team of utmost 10 authors, however, their position in multi-authored articles is mostly as co-authors than that of principal authors. Women in the age group ofbetween31 to 40 produced maximum publications, and almost 98 percent of publications appeared in collaboration with other scientists.This study confirms that publication productivity does not decline with age. There are women scientists who stay active in research and keep their productivity at a high level until their retirement. The study suggests that the increasing participation of women in Indian science is encouraging, as such more funding opportunities to younger women researchers may be important to give them more lead time to build a strong career. © 2022
A “scientific diversity” intervention to reduce gender bias in a sample of life scientists Open PDF
(American Society for Cell Biology, 2016)
Moss-Racusin, C.A.
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van der Toorn, J.
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Dovidio, J.F.
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Brescoll, V.L.
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Graham, M.J.
Mounting experimental evidence suggests that subtle gender biases favoring men contribute to the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), including many subfields of the life sciences. However, there are relatively few evaluations of diversity interventions designed to reduce gender biases within the STEM community. Because gender biases distort the meritocratic evaluation and advancement of students, interventions targeting instructors’ biases are particularly needed. We evaluated one such intervention, a workshop called “Scientific Diversity” that was consistent with an established framework guiding the development of diversity interventions designed to reduce biases and was administered to a sample of life science instructors (N=126) at several sessions of the National Academies Summer Institute for Undergraduate Education held nationwide. Evidence emerged indicating the efficacy of the “Scientific Diversity” work-shop, such that participants were more aware of gender bias, expressed less gender bias, and were more willing to engage in actions to reduce gender bias 2 weeks after participating in the intervention compared with 2 weeks before the intervention. Implications for diversity interventions aimed at reducing gender bias and broadening the participation of women in the life sciences are discussed. © 2016 C. A. Moss-Racusin et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education.
A case study on gender gap in Massachusetts maritime academy
(American Society for Engineering Education, 2017)
Maleki, F.S.
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Stephens, G.M.
It has been hypothesized and research has shown that diversity in the workforce can enhance creativity, improve problem solving, and ultimately improve a company's bottom line. Historically women have been underrepresented in engineering and more specifically in marine engineering and maritime industries. In this paper we will explore some of the possible reasons behind the considerable gender gap between male and female engineering enrollments at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA); including, but not limited to a lack of role models, especially in key positions; cultural stereotypes; impediments perceived or actual to careers in maritime or engineering industries, and media bias. This research will investigate a simple question across all MMA engineering majors: why are so few female students interested in becoming engineers at MMA. MMA's enrollment data and growth rate of female cadets over the last decade have been studied. Important parameters associated with this growth have been investigated. By the use of statistical analysis, SAT scores of the target demographic have been analyzed. The results of this analysis was used to find any meaningful deviation between male and female applicants. Additionally, through the use of a survey the priorities of target population in college selection and anticipated major has been assessed. Results of an analysis of SAT scores showed that female engineers score 12.6% higher than female non-engineers on the Math SAT and 9.7% higher in the composite score. The survey results revealed that while media bias and cultural stereotypes had minimal influence on female student's decision to apply to MMA, role models were an important motivational factor. Also, more than 77% learned of opportunities at the Academy through their family member rather than usual college inquiry and selection process. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2017.
A phenomenological study of factors influencing the gender gap in physics and other STEM-related fields
(American Society for Engineering Education, 2014)
Larkin, T.L.
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Vogel, T.
Current reports on the gender gap in STEM suggest factors influencing career choice between the sexes are not inevitable. Recent decades have documented a clear change in the gender makeup of some STEM disciplines. However, in many areas, the gap has persisted with little or no change in the number of women choosing to pursue a career in a STEM-related field such as Physics. According to recent AIP reports1, 2, women comprise 21% of undergraduate, 21% of graduate, and 19% of doctoral degrees in Physics. Many factors have been studied by scholars as contributing to the dearth of women in Physics and STEM3-8. Factors including the lack of role models, discouragement from the media, sex difference in cognitive skill, and unpleasant experiences related to gender-bias in the classroom have all been suggested as potential reasons why women tend not to pursue a career in Physics or other STEM field. Suggestions from some scholars also indicate that women often tend to seek out careers in which they feel they can make a difference. Unfortunately, the size of the gap in many areas has reached a plateau that hasn't appeared to shift significantly over time. This phenomenological study will look at how individual perceptions of STEM (with an emphasis on Physics) as a career option may influence academic and professional pursuits. To that end, formal interviews with practicing professionals and college students from a range of disciplines will be used as a primary data collection tool. This paper will provide a synthesis of the empirical data collected through these formal interviews. Factors that emerge from this synthesis as having a significant influence on one's perception of STEM as a career choice will be further examined and discussed. By focusing on individual perceptions, this study aims to contribute to the existing empirical database of factors that influence career choice and perpetuate the gender gap in STEMrelated fields such as Physics. The themes that emerge may stimulate further research on this topic and provide suggestions for best practices that may contribute to closing the gap. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2014.
Lifting as we climb: Experiences and recommendations from women in neural engineering Open PDF
(2023)
Jantz, Maria K.
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Mak, Jennifer
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Dalrymple, Ashley N.
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Farooqui, Juhi
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Grigsby, Erinn M.
Neural engineering is an emerging and multidisciplinary field in which engineering approaches are applied to neuroscience problems. Women are underrepresented in engineering fields, and indeed in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields generally. Underrepresentation of women is particularly notable at later academic career stages, suggesting that even though women are interested in the field, barriers exist that ultimately cause them to leave. Here, we investigate many of the obstacles to women's success in the field of neural engineering and provide recommendations and materials to overcome them. We conducted a review of the literature from the past 15 years regarding the experiences of women in academic careers, as well as reports on the number of women in fields closely related to neural engineering from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). Additionally, we interviewed six women in neural engineering who are involved in initiatives and outreach concerning the inclusion and experiences of women in engineering. Throughout the literature and interviews, we identified common themes spanning the role of identity and confidence, professional relationships, career-related hurdles, and personal and professional expectations. We explore each of these themes in detail and provide resources to support the growth of women as they climb within the field of neural engineering.
Gender gaps in Australian research publishing, citation and co-authorship Open PDF
(2023)
Jamali, Hamid R.
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Abbasi, Alireza
Despite improvement in gender inequality in Australian science, the problem has not been fully addressed yet. To better understand the nature of gender inequality in Australian science, all gendered Australian first authored articles published between 2010 and 2020 and indexed in the Dimensions database were analysed. Field of Research (FoR) was used as the subject classification of articles and Field Citation Ratio (FCR) was used for citation comparison. Overall, the ratio of female to male first authored articles increased over the years, and this was true for all FoRs except for information and computing sciences. The ratio of single-authored articles by females was also improved over the study period. Females appeared to have a citation advantage, using Field Citation Ratio, over males in a few FoRs including mathematical sciences, chemical sciences, technology, built environment and design, studies in human society, law and legal studies, and studies in creative arts and writing. The average FCR for female first authored articles was greater than the average FCR for male first authored articles, including in a few fields such mathematical sciences where male authors outperformed females in terms of the number of articles.
Participation of women in doctorate, research, innovation, and management activities at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid: analysis of the decade 2006–2016 Open PDF
(2019)
Hernández-Martín, E.
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Calle, F.
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Dueñas, J.C.
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Holgado, M.
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Gómez-Pérez, A.
This article studies the participation of women in doctorate, lecturing and research, innovation, and management activities at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), the most important and largest university in Spain devoted to engineering and architecture. The analyses revealed significant differences in the ratio of male (76%) and female (24%) lecturing and research staff. This unequal ratio conducted to women underrepresentation in other actions such as coordination of international projects, decision-making designations, patenting and software licensing, collaboration with companies, and PhD supervision. PhD enrolment and PhD defence data, disaggregated by gender and by technological area, were also analysed as they are the starting point of the academic career, and showed a widespread male prevalence over women (ca. 70% men vs. 30% women). The aim of this paper is to present actual, accurate, objective, and gender-segregated information extracted from UPM databases, to carry out a qualitative study drawing on an opinion survey and a “gap” analysis, and to undertake a critical examination of the historic, political, sociocultural and personal factors affecting gender inequalities in academia. Policy recommendations to improve the situation of women and to achieve gender balance in the disciplines of engineering and architecture are also provided. © 2019, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary.
Quality of evidence revealing subtle gender biases in science is in the eye of the beholder Open PDF
(Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2015)
Handley, Ian M.
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Brown, Elizabeth R.
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Moss-Racusin, Corinne A.
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Smith, Jessi L.
Scientists are trained to evaluate and interpret evidence without bias or subjectivity. Thus, growing evidence revealing a gender bias against women—or favoring men—within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) settings is provocative and raises questions about the extent to which gender bias may contribute to women’s underrepresentation within STEM fields. To the extent that research illustrating gender bias in STEM is viewed as convincing, the culture of science can begin to address the bias. However, are men and women equally receptive to this type of experimental evidence? This question was tested with three randomized, double-blind experiments—two involving samples from the general public (n = 205 and 303, respectively) and one involving a sample of university STEM and non-STEM faculty (n = 205). In all experiments, participants read an actual journal abstract reporting gender bias in a STEM context (or an altered abstract reporting no gender bias in experiment 3) and evaluated the overall quality of the research. Results across experiments showed that men evaluate the gender-bias research less favorably than women, and, of concern, this gender difference was especially prominent among STEM faculty (experiment 2). These results suggest a relative reluctance among men, especially faculty men within STEM, to accept evidence of gender biases in STEM. This finding is problematic because broadening the participation of underrepresented people in STEM, including women, necessarily requires a widespread willingness (particularly by those in the majority) to acknowledge that bias exists before transformation is possible.
Bibliometric studies on gender disparities in science
(2019)
Halevi, G.
Understanding gender related disparities in science is an essential step in tackling these issues. Through the years, bibliometric studies have designed several methodologies to analyze scholarly output and demonstrate that there are significant gaps between men and women in the scientific arena. However, gender identification in itself is an enormous challenge, since bibliographic data does not reveal it. These bibliometric studies not only focused on publication output and impact, but also on cross-referencing output, promotions and tenure data, and other related curriculum vitae (CV) information. This chapter discusses the challenges of tracking gender disparities in science through bibliometrics and reviews the various approaches taken by bibliometricians to identify gender and analyze the bibliographic data in order to point to gender disparities in science. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019.

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