This paper explores how gender influences the way that faculty members are held accountable to gendered societal expectations related to scientists, faculty members, and leaders. In particular, women faculty members in the sciences, particularly those who lead large research groups, may be at a triple disadvantage: they must act in ways that contradict ideals of femininity in these multiple aspects of their professional lives. The data for this inductive, largely exploratory analysis come from a mixed-methods qualitative study of five chemistry research groups at a research-intensive US university. I find that gendered expectations do impact the way that men and women faculty are evaluated by their students, particularly the way that women faculty are judged.

‘She's not good with crying’: the effect of gender expectations on graduate students' assessments of their principal investigators

Skill gaps are a key constraint to innovation, hindering productivity growth and economic development. In particular, shortages in the supply of trained professionals in disciplines related to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) may weaken the innovation potential of a society. A wide gender gap has persisted over the years at all levels of STEM disciplines throughout the world. Although the participation of women in higher education has increased, they are still underrepresented. Latin America is no exception. The untapped potential of fully trained and credentialed women represents an important lost opportunity not only for women themselves but also for society as a whole. Although there is growing recognition of the importance of the issue in developing countries, Latin America faces a lack of information that prevents researchers from deepening the understanding of this phenomenon and policymakers from designing effective interventions. This note aims to contribute to the academic and policy debate in the region by reviewing the main factors put forward in the literature to explain gender inequalities in recruitment, retention, and promotion in STEM disciplines and by providing evidence of the scope and results of policies directed to obtain a better gender balance in the sector.

Women in Science and Technology: What Does the Literature Say?

Previous research indicates that educational courses and occupations tend to become associated with one gender more than another. This can be seen within the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in particular, with men often more strongly associated with these areas than women. Even when individuals claim to hold gender-neutral beliefs about STEM, research has found they may still hold implicit beliefs that are gender-biased. Two implicit measures, the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) and the Implicit Association Test (IAT), were compared to assess attitudes towards women and science-based versus liberal arts college subjects. The results of the IAT suggested a tendency to associate ‘men’ rather than ‘women’ with ‘science’ for both male and female participants. The IRAP produced a more complex pattern of results, with females showing a tendency to pair men with science and with liberal arts, whereas the males showed a more neutral effect. The findings have implications for those concerned with addressing the gender imbalance in STEM careers.

Exploring attitudes towards gender and science: The advantages of an IRAP approach versus the IAT

This paper explores the role of Discover! Saturday Clubs as informal educational spaces devised as a means of broader dissemination and experiential learning for school-aged girls, with fledgling interests in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). Discover! Clubs are a UK based initiative organised by Women into Science, Engineering and Construction (WISE), researchers at Cardiff University and Careers Wales. STEM is traditionally characterised as suffering from a dearth of female representation at school and within the work force. This paper explores the extent to which Discover! works to remedy this deficit and enable young women to take an active interest and involvement producing a new version of knowledge worker, benefitting the wider knowledge economy. We draw explicit links
between educational attainment and credentials and labour inclusion, to interrogate notions of worth and validity of extra mural/after-school activity. Ultimately, Discover! is approached as a STEM initiative, indicative of a general trend towards the proliferation of public awareness, understanding, inclusion and participation within science, technology, engineering and
mathematics.

/pdf/discover-ng-women-in-stem-girls-into-science-technology-cl5eklkelo.pdf

Discover!ng Women in STEM: Girls into Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths

The present study explored gender inequality in K to 12 basic education, based on the experiences of first year pre-service science and mathematics teachers. It also determined if pre-service teachers' pursuit of a career in science or mathematics teaching was related to gender influences. A survey instrument was used to gather data for the study. Data were then subjected to descriptive statistics, multiple regression and Pearson moment correlation analyses. Results showed that the majority of students experienced gender inequality in their K to 12 basic education. However, they agreed that they still pursued a career in science or mathematics teaching based on factors such as teacher-student interaction, teaching strategy, verbal teacher response and instructional materials. Gender inequality therefore is not a great predictor of career choice in science and/or mathematics teaching. However, to increase enrolments in the course, in-service science and mathematics teachers should focus on enhancing and developing the factors which influence the students' career choices.

/pdf/does-gender-inequality-influence-interest-in-pursuing-a-3y7lhuytvu.pdf

Does gender inequality influence interest in pursuing a career in science or mathematics teaching

The present bibliography grew out of a need to provide a basic working list for participants in a conference held at the University of California, Davis in April of 1988. Originally consisting of publications of conference participants, it grew from a specialized working document into a more comprehensive monograph bibliography, at first with a simple snowball method; and subsequently, with the aid of two major bibliographic utilities: the University of California's system-wide online catalog (Melvyl), and RLIN (the cataloging database of the Research Libraries Group).

/pdf/gender-science-and-technology-a-selected-annotated-1dt6mzpo7b.pdf

Margaret Capron

Papers

Gender, Science, and Technology: A Selected Annotated Bibliography.