Mapping Gender Inequality in STEM Cross-Nationally

Catholic University Of America, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

The proposed research will use a comparative macro-structural framework, a geographic mapping approach, and country level data to examine gender inequity in STEM opportunities in a global context. The proposal will request support for an international collaboration with Luis Berneth Pena, a Columbian geographer at the Georg Simmel Center for Metropolitan Studies at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. The intellectual merit of the proposed research derives from an interdisciplinary, international collaboration between an American sociologist and a Columbian geographer. The collaboration will allow the integration of a comparative macro-structural framework of gender inequity in STEM and a geographic mapping approach. The influence of geographically distributed economic and socio-political structures on STEM equity outcomes has not been carefully examined and has the potential for revealing critical gender patterns in STEM opportunity systems. The merit of the research is based in part on an integration of sociological and geographic perspectives in understanding gender inequity in STEM inequity that is spatially distributed and correlates with larger macro structures. The broader impact of the proposed research is substantial given growing international focus on gender inequality. As a result of this focus, organizations such as the United Nations have promoted measurement of gender inequalities across countries. Measurement is often limited to general health, education, and labor market issues. Gender inequity in STEM is a major component in creating and maintaining gender inequity worldwide. An examination of gender equity in STEM education and occupations across countries with diverse economic and socio-political characteristics will lend insights and solutions for resolving inequities in STEM.