CAREER: STEMing the Tide: Changing Educational Environments to Enhance Girls' and Women's Participation in Science and Mathematics

University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA

Investigators

Abstract

In the past thirty years, a national debate had been brewing about the scarcity of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (or STEM), and its grave implications for the American workforce in the 21st century. Starting in middle school and continuing through college, girls and women often perform less well than boys and men on standardized tests in science and mathematics; they feel less confident about their ability in these disciplines and are less likely to pursue them in the future. Although the sex disparity in STEM participation is an undisputed reality, the reasons for this disparity are hotly debated. This research offers a new theoretical model that identifies the conditions under which educational environments, and the people within it, enhance versus constrain female students' intellectual capital. Three research questions emerge from this model. First, does the gender composition of STEM-related educational environments (e.g., the low proportion of female peers, teachers, and experts) create STEM stereotypes such that these disciplines become associated with maleness instead of remaining gender neutral? Second, do individual differences in the acquisition of such stereotypes predict female students' attitudes toward STEM, identification with STEM, performance, and academic choices? Third, can changes in the gender composition of academic environments reduce STEM stereotypes and enhance women's liking for, identification with, and participation in STEM? This research, which necessitates symbiotic relationships among research, education, and teaching, will use multiple methods (e.g., lab, field, cross-sectional and longitudinal studies) and samples (e.g., adolescents and young adults) to provide a comprehensive test of the research questions. The overarching goal of this project is to broaden girls' and women's participation in STEM through research and educational activities described in this proposal. To this end, all of the studies conducted as part of this research involve the participation of girls and women who are typically underrepresented in STEM; these students also serve as research participants and research assistants. Findings that emerge from this project will be disseminated back to the same student population as part of their science education. The PI has forged collaborations with a middle school, teacher training program, and two organizations that bring together STEM teachers, students, and administrators. These collaborations will enable the PI to disseminate research findings to teachers, teachers-in-training, school principals, four-year colleges, and community colleges.