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Title:
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Do female motives for enrolling vary according to STEM profile?
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Author:
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Olmedo Torre, Noelia; Sánchez Carracedo, Fermín; Salán Ballesteros, Maria Núria; López Álvarez, David; Pérez Poch, Antoni; López Beltrán, Mireia
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Other authors:
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Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament d'Expressió Gràfica a l'Enginyeria; Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament d'Arquitectura de Computadors; Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament de Ciència dels Materials i Enginyeria Metal·lúrgica; Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Institut de Ciències de l'Educació; Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament d'Estadística i Investigació Operativa; Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. BCN SEER - Barcelona Science and Engineering Education Research Group; Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. CIEFMA - Centre d'Integritat Estructural, Micromecànica i Fiabilitat dels Materials |
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Abstract:
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Contribution: Stereotypes and immediate environment are the reasons for low enrollment of women in STEM studies.
Background: The low number of women in STEM degree courses has been the subject of much research, which has found that the lack of female enrollment is not evenly distributed across
all STEM studies. In some areas, such as computing, communications, and electrical and electronic engineering (CCEEE), not only has the number of women not increased, it has even fallen.
Research Questions: Is there a stereotype for women taking STEM studies? Is this stereotype different between women taking CCEEE and non-CCEEE degrees? What are the main reasons
that lead women to enroll in STEM studies?
Methodology: A survey was sent to 3699 female students and STEM graduates belonging to the authors’ university in six schools with a lowest level of enrollment, and 1060 replies were
received. A qualitative study based on data analysis triangulation was performed.
Findings: The women surveyed consider social stereotypes (31.47%) and the immediate environment (14.5%) as the main reasons for the low enrollment of women in STEM studies.
Surprisingly, the third reason (11.03%) is that women do not like engineering. New knowledge concerning what motivates female students to enroll in STEM studies, what stereotypes they must
struggle against, and the existence of possible differences between CCEEE and STEM but non-CCEEE female students could help policy makers and academia to improve female enrollment in
STEM and, in particular, in CCEEE studies. |
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Abstract:
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Peer Reviewed |
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Abstract:
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Subject(s):
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-Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Matemàtiques i estadística
-Sociology
-Statistics
-Engineering
-Gender
-Equality
-Engineering
-enrollment
-female
-gender
-equality
-STEM
-student diversity
-Sociologia
-Estadística
-Enginyeria
-Igualtat |
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Rights:
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Document type:
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Article |
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