Describe the current state of women’s representation in STEM fields. Describe three different possible explanations for the current state of women’s representation in STEM. Discuss at least one study showing evidence relevant to each of the explanations you provide.
What will be an ideal response?
Women represent only about a quarter of workers in STEM fields and account for small percentages of full professors in fields such as engineering, physical science, and mathematics. One possible explanation for women’s underrepresentation in STEM is discrimination, either overt or subtle. One study, for instance, found that participants were twice as likely to hire a man compared to a woman for a job that required math skills. However, another study asking faculty members to evaluate hypothetical job candidates found a two to one hiring bias favoring female candidates in STEM positions. Other evidence for the role of discrimination in women’s underrepresentation in STEM is similarly mixed. Another possibility is that women’s underrepresentation is driven by differences in interests between men and women. For instance, one study found that women prefer jobs that emphasize communal goals and that preference for communal goals is negatively related to pursuing STEM careers. Finally, women may be less likely to pursue careers in STEM because traditional divisions of labor place higher proportions of household and family responsibilities upon women. For instance, one study found that women were more likely than men to work fewer hours in order to take on more household responsibilities.
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