GSE/RES: The Influence of Educational Climate on College Women's Attrition from STEM Fields: A Three-year Longitudinal Study

Texas A&M Research Foundation, College Station TX

Investigators

Abstract

Intellectual Merit: This project investigates how educational climates affect college women?s withdrawal from STEM fields. Specifically, the research examines: 1) the extent to which negative educational climates for college women (e.g., those that are perceived as uncivil, sexist, racist; have few female and faculty of color role models, and are male-dominated) lead them to depart from STEM fields; 2) whether women's perceptions of STEM careers (e.g., the presence of a glass ceiling, that non-STEM fields are more welcoming for women), aspirations in STEM fields, declines in well-being (e.g., mental health, physical health, and school satisfaction), and declines in performance (e.g., GPA) mediate the relationship between negative climates and withdrawal; and 3) whether demographics (e.g., race, socioeconomic status, parents' education level, and academic ability), support resources (e.g., family, peer, and environmental support), and personal resources (e.g., self-efficacy, nontraditional gender attitudes, and instrumental personality traits) moderate these relationships. The study is following college women in STEM fields for three years and asking them to complete online surveys. Data is being collected from women at two different universities to assess whether the theorized processes act similarly in disparate academic contexts. The primary focus is on women's climate experiences, but a small sample of college men who are STEM majors are also included to allow for cross-gender comparison. Tinto's theoretical work on student persistence and departure serves as a foundation for the project. Hierarchical linear modeling is used to test the hypotheses. The proposed study addresses six critically important but neglected gaps in the literature on the retention of women in STEM fields. First, although some research has examined climate issues for college women in STEM, few have examined how climate affects women in a range of STEM fields in the same study to determine how they are similar or different. Even less attention has been given to how both objective and subjective aspects of educational environments simultaneously affect STEM women's departure decisions; the proposed project assesses both of these climate dimensions. Second, the proposed project includes participants from two very different universities--a predominately white research university and a minority-serving undergraduate university--which will allow a comparative evaluation of how climate affects women in dissimilar educational environments. Third, over half of the participants in the study are women of color; there is currently a paucity of research examining factors that affect women of color's retention in STEM fields. The sample also includes variability in social class and first-generation college student status, allowing an investigation of how climate affects STEM women from working-class backgrounds. Fourth, this project examines STEM women's career perceptions, career aspirations, well-being, and academic performance as key factors that may mediate the climate-withdrawal link. This component of the proposed research increases our understanding of why women exit STEM fields when they experience negative educational climates. Fifth, the proposed research investigates factors that moderate, or buffer, women from the negative effects of negative educational climates, thereby increasing the likelihood that they will remain in STEM. Finally, the longitudinal design allows for the identification of particular points in women's college trajectory that are most sensitive to departure. Broader Impacts: Findings from the proposed project have the potential to transform the undergraduate educational experience for women in STEM fields and address the critical social need of educating young women to compete in the global economy. As such, educators, students, parents, researchers, policy makers, and the general public benefit from the study's findings. Outreach focuses on: 1) the construction of a website reporting all major findings and providing links to published papers and presentations on study findings, 2) meetings with university administrators, faculty, and student groups to report findings, discuss intervention strategies, and provide recommendations, and 3) dissemination to the academic research community via presentations at professional meetings and peer-reviewed publications. Study results also inform educational intervention design to promote women's retention in STEM and allow employers and policy makers to develop effective strategies to retain female workers in STEM fields. The project also provides research training opportunities for female and racial minority undergraduate and graduate students. Finally, findings contribute to societal debates regarding the extent of sexism, racism, and general mistreatment targeted at women in university environments, particularly those that are science-based and male-dominated.