Inhalt: Sexual harassment occurs more frequently in male-dominated fields and physics is a more male-dominated field than most other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Thus, it is important to examine the occurrence and impact of sexual harassment on women in physics. A survey of undergraduate women, who attended a conference for undergraduate women in physics, revealed that approximately three quarters (74.3%; 338/455) of survey respondents experienced at least one type of sexual harassment. This sample was recruited from a large fraction of undergraduate women in physics in the United States. We find that certain types of sexual harassment predict a negative sense of belonging and exacerbate the imposter phenomenon. The types of sexual harassment that predict these outcomes, both forms of gender harassment, while seemingly less severe types of harassment, have been found to have substantially negative personal and professional consequences. These findings are important since prior work has found that sense of belonging and the imposter phenomenon are related to students’ persistence in STEM fields. Our results have implications for understanding and improving persistence in physics by informing the community about the occurrence of sexual harassment and its effects so that we can begin to work towards reducing its occurrence and mitigating its effects.
Social or Economic Goals? The Professional Goal Orientation of Students Enrolled in STEM and Non-STEM Majors in University
Autor/in:
Wolter, Ilka; Ehrtmann, Lisa; Seidel, Tina; Drechsel, Barbara
Quelle: Front. Psychol. (Frontiers in Psychology), 10 (2019)
Inhalt: Various studies try to disentangle the gender-specific competencies or decisions that lead to a career in a STEM field and try to find a way to encourage more women to pursue this kind of career. The present study examines differences in the meaning of work (i.e., their professional goal orientation) of students who are enrolled in STEM or non-STEM programs in tertiary education. Based on the background that gender stereotypes associate women and men with communal or agentic roles respectively, we expected that women in STEM subjects differ in their professional goal orientation from women in non-STEM programs. More precisely, women who are enrolled in a STEM major are expected to be less oriented to social and communal goal orientations than women in non-STEM university programs. In a sample of 5857 second year university students of the German National Educational Panel Study three profiles of professional goal orientation were confirmed in a latent profile analysis. As expected, women were more oriented towards social aspects of occupations, whereas men more likely belonged to a profile with high importance for economic aspects of occupations. Moreover, students enrolled in STEM programs more likely belonged to the profile of economic goal orientation. There was, however, no interaction of gender and STEM program: Women in STEM fields did not differ in their occupational goal orientation from women enrolled in non-STEM programs. Based on these findings and on a goal congruity perspective, future interventions aiming at overcoming the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields should consider the individual meaning of work and the goals that are associated with STEM occupations.
‘Mentoring and sponsorship in Higher Educational institutions : Men’s invisible advantage in STEM’?
Autor/in:
O’Connor, Pat; O'Hagan, Angela; Myers, Eva Sophie
Quelle: Higher Education Research and Development, 39 (2019) 4, S 1–14
Inhalt: This article is concerned with the source of men’s invisible advantage in the male dominated disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). It is suggested that this advantage has been obscured by combining sponsorship and mentoring. The research asks: Are men or women most likely to be mentored? Is it possible to distinguish between mentoring and sponsorship? Is there gender variation in either or both of these depending on the source – whether from the academic supervisor, line manager or other senior academics. This qualitative study draws on interview data from 106 respondents (57 men and 48 women) at junior, middle and senior levels, in four universities: one each in Bulgaria, Denmark, Ireland and Turkey. It shows that both men and women received mentoring from their PhD supervisor, albeit with slightly different reported nuances. Men were more likely than women to receive sponsorship in that relationship. Both men and women received sponsorship from the Head of Department, whose wider responsibilities may have reduced homophily. Men were more likely than women to receive sponsorship and mentoring from senior men, with most women indicating a lack of access to such senior academics. By distinguishing between mentoring and sponsorship, this article contributes to our understanding of the way male dominance in STEM is perpetuated and suggests the source of men’s invisible advantage in STEM.
Where are the Women in the Engineering Labour Market? A Cross-Sectional Study
Autor/in:
Singh, Seema; Peers, Sarah Matilde Catherine
Quelle: GST (International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology), 11 (2019) 1, S 203–231
Inhalt: Traditionally, engineering has been a male bastion throughout the world. However, during the past 15 to 20 years, the need for gender diversity has become increasingly understood by stakeholders. Against this background the study discusses the participation of women in engineering education and employment from across the world to uncover specific differences and similarities. Today, in almost all countries, various stakeholders are taking affirmative action to enhance participation. Yet not all actions are equally effective, and progress is sometimes much slower than might be expected. An array of various socioeconomic-political factors provides the reasons for such outcomes. The countries studied have been divided into four groups based on the impact of various socioeconomic factors on women’s participation across engineering. Example actions are discussed again for different levels of engineering—from students to practicing engineers. These, together with an understanding of what works, where and why, could be the start of a library of case studies that organisations such as the International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists (INWES)[i] may share with those working to increase gender equity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) around the world. Even though there is a paucity of research or data for some areas of the globe, particularly in the engineering workforce, one point that emerges from this paper is that, in order to enhance the effectiveness of affirmative programmes, socioeconomic-political factors must be taken into consideration.
Schlagwörter:affirmative action; Arbeitsmarkt; Best Practice; engineering education; engineers; Gleichstellungsmaßnahmen; impact assessment; Ingenieurwissenschaft; internationaler Vergleich; labour market; MINT; STEM; women
CEWS Kategorie:Gleichstellungspolitik, Naturwissenschaft und Technik
Quelle: CJPE (Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation), 33 (2019)
Inhalt: Gender equality has made its way to the forefront of discussions across various sectors in the Canadian context. Yet the intentional inclusion of gender and other intersectional identity dimensions is just beginning to permeate the realities of performance measurement and evaluation practitioners, particularly those using program theory. There is a vast body of knowledge regarding the measurement of women’s empowerment, gradually declining availability of resources targeting the inclusion of gender in theory, and even less guidance on integrating gender in theory in the context of gendered programming. Similarly, coordinated efforts from multiple sectors have resulted in an abundance of theory regarding girls and women’s representation, recruitment, retention, and promotion within STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) but less guidance on the measurement and evaluation in these areas. This article shares recent efforts to bridge the divide using theory knitting to develop a performance measurement framework addressing the decreasing representation of girls and women across the STEM “leaky pipeline” using the COM-B theory of change model.
Schlagwörter:gender equality; Geschlechterverhältnis; Gleichstellungsmaßnahmen; Gleichstellungspolitik; Ingenieurwissenschaft; MINT; Programmevaluation; Programmtheorie; STEM; theory of change
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Gleichstellungspolitik, Naturwissenschaft und Technik
Gender and Race Intersectional Effects in the U.S. Engineering Workforce : Who Stays? Who Leaves?
Autor/in:
Tao, Yu; McNeely, Connie L.
Quelle: GST (International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology), 11 (2019) 1, S 181–202
Inhalt: In many countries, engineering remains a field in which women are highly underrepresented, raising questions not only of equal access, but also of underutilized and wasted potential in engineering talent. The United States is one such country, with women representing only 15% of the engineering workforce. Moreover, even if initially entering the field, women in the United States are more likely than men to leave engineering altogether. This study further analyzes this situation, recognizing that women are a demographically varied group and questioning how differences among them might be reflected in engineering participation outcomes. Emphasizing race and gender, and employing logit regression and marginal effects tests, it considers intersectional configurations to examine probabilities of staying and working in engineering occupations among recipients of engineering degrees. Different gendered patterns are revealed for working in engineering among Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, African Americans, and White Americans. Moreover, gender and race groups present varying retention rates in engineering occupations over time. Findings also confirm inter- and intra-group gender and racial/ethnic differences and disparities that would not have been revealed without attention to intersectional effects on participation in engineering fields.
Rezension: Inka Greusing: „Wir haben ja jetzt auch ein paar Damen bei uns“ - Symbolische Grenzziehungen und Heteronormativität in den Ingenieurwissenschaften. Opladen u.a.: Budrich UniPress 2018 - Querelles-net, Jg. 20, Nr. 3 (2019)
Autor/in:
Kaiser, Anelis
Quelle: (2019)
Inhalt: Trotz Bemühungen auf Ebene der Gleichstellung sind Frauen nach wie vor im MINT-Bereich an deutschen Hochschulen unterrepräsentiert. Was mögen die Gründe dafür sein? Mit den Methoden der Sozialwissenschaften untersuchen Wissenschaftler*innen die Ursachen für diese Geschlechter-Disbalance. So auch Inka Greusing in ihrer Dissertationsschrift, in der sie auf verschiedene immanente Strukturen in unseren Köpfen, in unserem Verhalten und in den Studiengängen hinweist. Dadurch wird klar, dass Maßnahmen zur Veränderung der Situation nach wie vor notwendig sind. Die Analyse von Inka Greusing stellt einen sorgfältig ausgearbeiteten Beitrag für das Forschungsfeld Gender Studies in den MINT-Fächern dar.
Quelle: Front. Sociol. (Frontiers in Sociology), 4 (2019) , 26 S
Inhalt: Research and popular debate on female underrepresentation in academia has focused on STEM fields. But recent work has offered a unifying explanation for gender representation across the STEM/nonSTEM divide. This proposed explanation, called the fieldspecific ability beliefs (FAB) hypothesis, postulates that, in combination with pervasive stereotypes that link men but not women with intellectual talent, academics perpetuate female underrepresentation by transmitting to students in earlier stages of education their beliefs about how much intellectual talent is required for success in each academic field. This theory was supported by a national survey which found that the disciplines with the fewest women had practitioners who were most likely to think that success in their field requires [talent]/[brilliance]. We test this topdown schema with a nationwide survey of U.S. undergraduates, assessing the extent to which undergraduate beliefs about talent in academia mirror those of academics. We find no evidence that academics transmit their beliefs to undergraduates. We also use a second survey – identical to the first but with each field’s gender ratio provided as added information – to explicitly test the relationship between undergraduate beliefs about gender and talent in academia. The results for this second survey suggest that the extent to which undergraduates rate brilliance as essential to success in an academic field is highly sensitive to this added information for nonSTEM fields, but not STEM fields. Overall, our study offers evidence that, contrary to FAB hypothesis, the STEM/nonSTEM divide principally shapes undergraduate beliefs about both gender and talent in academia.
Schlagwörter:Fächerwahl; Frauen in der Wissenschaft; gender bias; Gender stereotype; Geschlechterstereotyp; MINT; non-STEM divide; quantitative Analyse; STEM; Stereotyp; talent; Underrepresentation of women; Unterrepräsentanz; women in science
CEWS Kategorie:Studium und Studierende, Naturwissenschaft und Technik, Geschlechterverhältnis
The re-production process of gender bias: A case of ICT professors through recruitment in a gender-neutral country
Autor/in:
Tiainen, Tarja; Berki, Eleni
Quelle: Studies in Higher Education, 44 (2019) 1, S 170–184
Inhalt: Women's under-representation in the fields of science and technology is strong; both in software houses and academic posts. We focus on the academic field by gender sensitive analysis of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) academics. The general picture given by statistics' meta-analyses illustrates male dominance even in Finland, which is often presented as a country which values gender equality high. For achieving deeper understanding about the process of gender bias reproduction, we focus on one university and its selection of ICT professors. Although every professorship fulfilling is a situated process, they all together shape a homogeneous male-dominant picture. This paper continues on early gender-focused discussion of Studies in Higher Education by presenting an organisational point of view.