A Longitudinal Study of Gender Stratification in Science and Engineering

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

This project is a longitudinal study that explores the cultural foundations by which women and men take on different occupations and professional positions. The plan is to survey people who entered college 10 years ago planning to be an engineer to discover what they are doing now and what choices they made. The purpose is to explain the persistent differences in men's and women's commitment to a career in engineering. The respondents have been surveyed annually from 2003-2007, in 2012, and now in 2017. Men and women enter engineering school with similar math and science achievement scores and graduate with similar achievements in their engineering courses. Yet, women leave the engineering profession at significantly higher rates than do men. While women and men enjoy nearly comparable levels of confidence in their technical expertise, women report lower levels of confidence that engineering is an appropriate fit with their ambitions. Women seek careers in engineering as an expression of their commitment to improve the quality of life for all citizens; and, they do not find these values affirmed through their networks or exposure to the occupational field. Despite repeated efforts to reform education and training and to encourage workforce participation, recent trends suggest that the engineering profession remains remarkably resistant to change in its gender composition. Gender segregation in STEM compromises the competitive position of the United States in a global economy as well as American values of equity, fairness, and equality. The proposed study contributes to policy debates by assessing the dilemmas plaguing engineering and STEM fields. Our theoretical model adjudicates among the most important contending explanations for continuing gender stratification in professional employment by testing gendered advancement rates, work-family nexus, de-politicization in the workforce, gender stratification and social networks. Methodologically, this study builds from a unique longitudinal panel and dataset to explain the critical transition from credential acquisition to workforce participation ten-years post-graduation; the research exploits a rigorous design, and uses a longitudinal panel to test causal models, yielding greater predictive power. Specifically, we show how cultural schema and network patterns reproduce gender segregation, offering insights that can be used more broadly. In sum, the research is designed to identify gaps in our understanding, as well as to address some of the methodological problems associated with answering outstanding questions about gendering in STEM occupations.