PUBBLICAZIONE/PUBLICATION

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://gendermore.unimore.it/handle/123456789/1575

Browse

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 10

Accidental Scientists: How Undergraduate Research in Political Science Can Help to Patch the "Leaky Pipeline" in STEM Education Open PDF
(2023)
Mueller, L
Education advocates lament the "leaky pipeline" in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), whereby students-especially minorities and women-drop out of STEM at successive stages of the educational system. Defining empirical political science as a branch of STEM, this article proposes that undergraduate research in political science can help to patch this leaky pipeline and expand access to scientific skills and habits of mind. I elaborate on three rationales to support my claim: (1) political science is a relatively diverse field of STEM; (2) college primes students to think like (political) scientists; and (3) students often encounter political science research opportunities for the first time as undergraduates, presenting an opportunity for faculty to "catch" those who selected out of STEM after high school. I substantiate my arguments by drawing on enrollment data, archival documents, the theories of John Dewey, and testimonials from former undergraduate researchers. I also recommend ways for political science departments to provide a meaningful STEM education by enhancing research programs.
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.
;
van der Toorn, J.
;
Dovidio, J.F.
;
Brescoll, V.L.
;
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.
Underrepresentation of Women in Undergraduate Economics Degrees in Europe: A Comparison with STEM and Business
(Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), 2021)
Megalokonomou, Rigissa
;
Vidal-Fernandez, Marian
;
Yengin, Duygu
In the last decade, the proportion and academic performance of women who pursue university degrees has increased relative to men in a range of developing countries (OECD, 2015). Nonetheless, the percentage of undergraduate economics degrees awarded to women has remained between 30% and 35% during 2001-2018 in the U.S. (Siegfried, 2019). In a recent work by Lundberg and Stearns (2019), they show that the gender gap worsens as women economists progress in their professional careers in the U.S., where they end up representing only 10% of university professors. European countries seem to have less of a "leaky pipeline," where the same figure sits at 22% (Auriol, Friebel, and Wilhelm, 2020). To put this figure into perspective, our paper describes the cross-country underrepresentation of women graduating in economics degrees in Europe relative to their country-specific women/men university graduation rates. Second, we compare the underrepresentation of women in economics to its closest alternative namely business, as well as its gender underrepresented counterpart, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Finally, we lean on recent evidence to suggest policies to increase the relative share of women pursuing undergraduate economics degrees in Europe with a strong focus on policies aimed at high schools. Overall, we find that, over the period 2013-2018, the underrepresentation of women in economics graduates has worsened in Europe and that on average two of every five students are women. While the gender representation of university graduates in STEM is worse than in economics, it has experienced a mild increase over the period of study. Unlike Economics, its closest alternative, business, has a slight women overrepresentation, with 1.1 women graduating for every man.
Relative Grades and Gender Differences in STEM Enrollment
(University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany, 2025)
Fuchs, Larissa;Pinger, Pia
;
Seeger, Philipp
Based on novel administrative and survey data from Germany, this study investigates the importance of relative STEM performance in high school for the gender gap in STEM enrollment. We first document that males display a higher relative STEM performance than females, which however mainly emerges from females' stronger achievement in non-STEM subjects. Our findings further reveal that a one-standard-deviation increase in grade-based STEM advantage raises the likelihood of pursuing a STEM degree by approximately 19 percentage points for males, but only by half as much for females. A decomposition analysis shows that 26% of the STEM gender gap could be attributed to differences in grade-based STEM performance if major preferences resembled those of males. However, relative grades are largely unimportant in an environment where preferences mirror those of females. This suggests that STEM performance differences have limited influence on females' decisions to pursue STEM degrees. While STEM advantage significantly impacts observed gender gaps in STEM enrollment, this effect is primarily driven by males.
Women in Science: Where We Stand?—The WHEN Protocol Open PDF
(MDPI, 2025)
Arnaboldi, Francesca
;
Macagno, Alessia
;
Villani, Marialuisa
;
Biganzoli, Giacomo
;
Bianchi, Francesca
Gender disparity in scientific fields, identified with the acronym STEM, is a complex issue whose multiple causes have distant origins in time. In the early development of scientific disciplines, women were often denied access to education and professional opportunities, and their contributions to the scientific fields were frequently not recognized. These trends of underrepresentation gave rise to the male-dominated culture in STEM that persists today, as young women often lack female role models and are less likely to pursue careers in STEM, perpetuating the gender gap and limiting women’s influence and visibility in these fields. Here we present the protocol of the WHEN project, which aims to explore the perceptions that high-school students have of scientific careers and of the women in science, investigating whether gender stereotypes persist and can affect decisions about future paths. Through questionnaires, this study investigates the impact of socio-economic variables on the persistence of gender stereotypes and, most importantly, explores the potential for reducing them through direct engagement with female STEM role models.
Do females create higher impact research? Scopus citations and Mendeley readers for articles from five countries Open PDF
(2018)
Thelwall, M.
There are known gender imbalances in participation in scientific fields, from female dominance of nursing to male dominance of mathematics. It is not clear whether there is also a citation imbalance, with some claiming that male-authored research tends to be more cited. No previous study has assessed gender differences in the readers of academic research on a large scale, however. In response, this article assesses whether there are gender differences in the average citations and/or Mendeley readers of academic publications. Field normalised logged Scopus citations and Mendeley readers from mid-2018 for articles published in 2014 were investigated for articles with first authors from India, Spain, Turkey, the UK and the USA in up to 251 fields with at least 50 male and female authors. Although female-authored research is less cited in Turkey (-4.0%) and India (-3.6%), it is marginally more cited in Spain (0.4%), the UK (0.4%), and the USA (0.2%). Female-authored research has fewer Mendeley readers in India (-1.1%) but more in Spain (1.4%), Turkey (1.1%), the UK (2.7%) and the USA (3.0%). Thus, whilst there may be little practical gender difference in citation impact in countries with mature science systems, the higher female readership impact suggests a wider audience for female-authored research. The results also show that the conclusions from a gender analysis depend on the field normalisation method. A theoretically informed decision must therefore be made about which normalisation to use. The results also suggest that arithmetic mean-based field normalisation is favourable to males. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Perceived Supports and Barriers for Career Development for Second-Year STEM Students Open PDF
(2016)
Peña-Calvo, José-Vicente
;
Inda-Caro, Mercedes
;
Rodríguez-Menéndez, Carmen
;
Fernández-García, Carmen-María
Background This study was designed to determine the effect of perceived supports and barriers on self-efficacy beliefs and other social-cognitive variables related to second-year science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students' career development. Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) states that career interest is influenced by four cognitive-person variables: self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, interests, and goals. Other variables, such as social supports and barriers, also play an important role. Purpose This study explores the influence of gender and STEM major on perceived supports and barriers. It also analyzes the effects of perceived supports and barriers on the SCCT cognitive-person variables. Method Participants were 811 sophomore students in STEM programs at the University of Oviedo, Asturias, Spain. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests analyzed the difference in the perceived supports and barriers by gender and students' major. Multiple-group structural equation modeling was implemented to predict the relationship between perceived supports and barriers and SCCT cognitive-person variables. Results The engineering students perceived more teaching staff barriers and fewer teaching staff supports than other students. Male software and hardware engineering students perceived more barriers than other male engineering students. The fit of the model revealed an important effect of perceived teaching staff supports on the four cognitive-person variables. Conclusions To determine the influences on the cognitive-person variables, it is necessary to analyze the perceived supports and barriers. Peers and family are the most important perceived supports, while teaching staff and financial difficulties are the greatest perceived barriers.
A social cognitive perspective on gender disparities in self-efficacy, interest, and aspirations in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM): the influence of cultural and gender norms Open PDF
(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2022)
Chan, R.C.H.
Background: The underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is well documented in developed countries, and yet public discussion of gender disparities in STEM in China is still in its nascent stage. Endorsement of traditional gender role beliefs and conformity to social norms are pertinent to Chinese culture, which may even exacerbate the gender disparities in STEM engagement. Grounded in social cognitive career theory, the present study drew on a national sample of secondary school students (N = 3020) in China to estimate gender disparities in self-efficacy, interest, and aspirations in STEM and examine how cultural and gender norms influence STEM engagement. Results: The proposed sequential mediation model was supported, in which girls were more likely to show lower levels of self-efficacy than boys; this was associated with lower interest in STEM and lower motivation to pursue STEM careers. The results also supported the moderating effect of traditional gender role beliefs and found that gender differences in self-efficacy, interest, and aspirations in STEM were more apparent among students who strongly endorsed stereotypical views of male and female roles. Conclusions: The findings provide important implications for efforts to improve girls’ access to STEM education through curriculum enrichment and out-of-school time programs to bridge the gender gap in STEM. Access to female role models and gender-responsive pedagogy is also essential to boost girls’ self-efficacy in STEM and eradicate traditional gender role beliefs among all students. © 2022, The Author(s).
Gender Disparities and Potentials in STEM Approach in Jordan and Saudi Arabia -- An Analytical Literature Review Open PDF
(2024)
Alghneimin, Jehan
;
Varga, Attila
;
Kovacs, Monika
In recent years, the integrated approach of STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) has been adopted in the Middle East to improve students' scientific capacities and their formative thinking. Nevertheless, this approach encounters complications in the application, including many due to gender differences. Middle Eastern women's life and education is affected by conservative constraints and social norms where gender stereotypes and culture impact shared views about specific domains. Research regarding gender has frequently emphasized gender imbalance in virtually all STEM study fields and professions. This study explores STEM education's conceptual framework in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Likewise, it provides an overview of STEM teachers' practices and their gender perspectives in the classrooms. We investigate the implementations and gender differences in STEM education by scrutinizing relevant literature and studies in the selected countries. The conclusions indicate a shortage of teachers' knowledge in applying STEM education in classrooms and a need for more development programs that qualify teachers for STEM education applications. In addition, the results show that gender disparities are promoted by the education system and teachers who teach STEM subjects in schools because social norms and gender stereotypes influence them.
The Gender Minority Gaps in Confidence and Self-Evaluation
(National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, 2024)
Aksoy, Billur
;
Exley, Christine L.
;
Kessler, Judd B.
A rich literature explores gender differences between men and women, but an increasing share of the population identifies their gender in some other way. Analyzing data on roughly 10,000 students and 1,500 adults, we find that such gender minorities are less confident and provide less favorable self-evaluations than equally performing men on a math and science test. We find that these "gender minority gaps" are robust, are as large as—or larger than—gender gaps between men and women, and are domain specific. Administrative data reveals that our confidence and self-evaluation measures are highly predictive of academic performance.

PUBBLICAZIONE/PUBLICATION

Browse

Filters

Settings

Sort By

Results per page

Search Results