Gender Gap in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM): Current Knowledge, Implications for Practice, Policy, and Future Directions

Escaping the midway trap: A mixed method study highlighting roadblocks and coping mechanisms of female researchers in Cameroon

Across the world, women make most of the health workforce, but remain underrepresented in academia. This is even worst in Sub-Saharan Africa where women are the least represented as first and last authors in publications, especially in francophone countries. However, there is a lack of data on the reason explaining this inequity. Therefore, we sought to describe challenges which hinder the growth of Cameroonian female researchers and conducted a mixed method study over one year from January 2020 to December 2020. We included Cameroonian female researchers in health. For the quantitative arm, data was collected through an online google questionnaire. In-depth interviews were organized for the qualitative arm. Data was analyzed using python software version 21 for the quantitative arm and content analysis was performed for qualitative data. A total of 119 participants were included in this study. Most participants were aged between 25 and 35 years (72%) and they were Christians (94%). The majority had at least a PhD degree (29.6%) and they came from the West region of Cameroon (34.2%) the Northern regions were grossly underrepresented. More than half of our participants faced issues with balancing career, work, and academia and this is linked to culture. Socioeconomic, sociocultural, institutional, and environmental roadblocks hinder the progress and research productivity of most female researchers. The burden of unpaid maternity leaves, and sexual harassment remains high for most women. The use of English language as lingua Franca is perceived as another barrier for one on two women. However, there are coping strategies adopted by female scientists including the development of soft skills such as self-confidence, determination, and hard work. Extrinsic factors such as global policy, international partnerships, workshops, mentorship, and networking are also supporting women in global health. Gender-based interventions are critical to support women in escaping the midway trap.

Parental and peer influence on STEM career persistence: From higher education to first job

This article investigates social influences that drive gender-specific differences in the degree of persistence individuals exhibit in regard to pursuing science, mathematics, engineering and technology (STEM), both as a field of study and as an occupation. It covers individuals' careers from entry into higher education to entry into the labor market. Following a life course perspective, I ask the following questions: (1) How stable are preferences regarding STEM subjects and occupations throughout young adulthood? (2) Are significant social ties, such as relations with friends and family members, factors that affect individuals' persistence in pursuing a STEM career throughout higher education and at entry into the labor market? Based on longitudinal data from the student cohort of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), Starting Cohort 5 (SC5), I find that mothers who have a STEM occupation encourage their daughters to choose a STEM career when the latter enter higher education, but they do not encourage them to choose STEM studies or to choose a STEM occupation when they enter the labor market. Conversely, social factors contribute stronger to the persistence of men: fathers who have a STEM occupation promote sons choosing to pursue a STEM field, and to persist in such a field. Also, I find that support from friends and parents is especially important for men's persistence in pursuing STEM subjects during higher education.

Exploring career interest and STEM self-efficacy: implications for promoting gender equity

This study explores the relationship between career interests and self-efficacy in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) among young girls in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Employing a quantitative research design with a correlational approach, we utilize the S-STEM survey to measure changes in students' STEM subject efficacy and their interest in STEM careers. Our sample comprises 671 middle and high school female students from 49 schools, representing a diverse cross-section of the population. The findings indicate that female students exhibit high levels of STEM self-efficacy and have a strong preference for medicine as a career choice. While the overall interest in STEM careers among students is moderate, there are notable variations in interest across different STEM fields. Importantly, a positive and significant correlation was observed between female students' interest in STEM careers and their self-efficacy in STEM. This research holds important implications for the promotion of STEM education and careers among female students. By recognizing the unique context of Saudi Arabia and the perspectives of young girls in Riyadh, this study offers a fresh perspective on the factors influencing STEM career aspirations and highlights the importance of fostering self-efficacy beliefs among female students.

Over twenty years of publications in Ecology: Over-contribution of women reveals a new dimension of gender bias

Biographical features like social and economic status, ethnicity, sexuality, care roles, and gender unfairly disadvantage individuals within academia. Authorship patterns should reflect the social dimension behind the publishing process and co-authorship dynamics. To detect potential gender biases in the authorship of papers and examine the extent of women's contribution in terms of the substantial volume of scientific production in Ecology, we surveyed papers from the top-ranked journal Ecology from 1999 to 2021. We developed a Women's Contribution Index (WCI) to measure gender-based individual contributions. Considering gender, allocation in the author list, and the total number of authors, the WCI calculates the sum of each woman's contribution per paper. We compared the WCI with women's expected contributions in a non-gender-biased scenario. Overall, women account for 30% of authors of Ecology, yet their contribution to papers is higher than expected by chance (i.e., over-contribution). Additionally, by comparing the WCI with an equivalent Men's Contribution Index, we found that women consistently have higher contributions compared to men. We also observed a temporal trend of increasing women's authorship and mixed-gender papers. This suggests some progress in addressing gender bias in the field of ecology. However, we emphasize the need for a better understanding of the pattern of over-contribution, which may partially stem from the phenomenon of over-compensation. In this context, women might need to outperform men to be perceived and evaluated as equals. The WCI provides a valuable tool for quantifying individual contributions and understanding gender biases in academic publishing. Moreover, the index could be customized to suit the specific question of interest. It serves to uncover a previously non-quantified type of bias (over-contribution) that, we argue, is the response to the inequitable structure of the scientific system, leading to differences in the roles of individuals within a scientific publishing team.

Sex differences in large-scale brain network connectivity for mental rotation performance

Mental rotation has emerged as an important predictor for success in science, technology, engineering, and math fields. Previous studies have shown that males and females perform mental rotation tasks differently. However, how the brain functions to support this difference remains poorly understood. Recent advancements in neuroimaging techniques have enabled the identification of sex differences in large-scale brain network connectivity. Using a classic mental rotation task with functional magnetic resonance imaging, the present study investigated whether there are any sex differences in large-scale brain network connectivity for mental rotation performance. Our results revealed that, relative to females, males exhibited less cross-network interaction (i.e. lower inter-network connectivity and participation coefficient) of the visual network but more intra-network integration (i.e. higher intra-network connectivity and local efficiency) and cross-network interaction (i.e. higher inter-network connectivity and participation coefficient) of the salience network. Across all participants, mental rotation performance was negatively correlated with cross-network interaction (i.e. participation coefficient) of the visual network, was positively correlated with cross-network interaction (i.e. inter-network connectivity) of the salience network, and was positively correlated with intra-network integration (i.e. local efficiency) of the somato-motor network. Interestingly, the cross-network integration indexes of both the visual and salience networks significantly mediated sex difference in mental rotation performance. The present findings suggest that large-scale brain network connectivity may constitute an essential neural basis for sex difference in mental rotation, and highlight the importance of considering sex as a research variable in investigating the complex network underpinnings of spatial cognition.

A 100-day mentoring program leads to positive shifts in girls' perceptions and attitudes towards biomechanics and related STEM disciplines

The gender gap in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is among the widest across education and professional fields, with an underrepresentation of girls and women, particularly in engineering and biomechanics. This issue begins early in education and worsens as females progress into more senior roles. To address this gap, we designed and implemented the Biomechanics Research and Innovation Challenge (BRInC), a 100-day STEM program focused on mentoring and role modelling to engage high school girls and early-career biomechanists at key phases where they most commonly disengage in STEM. We evaluated the influence of the program on (i) identity and perceptions towards science, engineering, and biomechanics; (ii) attitudes towards biomechanics, maths and science; and (iii) attitudes towards gender bias, education and career aspirations in STEM, within high school girls following participation in the BRInC program. We observed significant and positive shifts in girls' perceptions of both biomechanics and engineering. Participation in the program appeared to lead to favourable shifts in attitudes towards biomechanics, maths, and science and fostered a positive influence on girls' education and career aspirations, igniting an interest in future research opportunities. Innovative STEM engagement programs, such as BRInC, highlight the promising potential of targeted and bespoke approaches to address the underrepresentation of females in biomechanics and STEM-related education and careers. Future programs should strive to enhance socioeconomic and cultural diversity, employ whole of life-cycle approaches by offering programs for girls and women at various phases of the STEM pathway, and prioritize impact assessments to effectively monitor progress.

Perceptions of Skills Needed for STEM Jobs: Links to Academic Self-Concepts, Job Interests, Job Gender Stereotypes, and Spatial Ability in Young Adults

Gender gaps in spatial skills-a domain relevant to STEM jobs-have been hypothesized to contribute to women's underrepresentation in STEM fields. To study emerging adults' beliefs about skill sets and jobs, we asked college students (N = 300) about the relevance of spatial, mathematical, science and verbal skills for each of 82 jobs. Analyses of responses revealed four job clusters-quantitative, basic & applied science, spatial, and verbal. Students' ratings of individual jobs and job clusters were similar to judgments of professional job analysts (O*NET). Both groups connected STEM jobs to science, math, and spatial skills. To investigate whether students' interests in STEM and other jobs are related to their own self-concepts, beliefs about jobs, and spatial performance, we asked students in another sample (N = 292) to rate their self-concepts in various academic domains, rate personal interest in each of the 82 jobs, judge cultural gender stereotypes of those jobs, and complete a spatial task. Consistent with prior research, jobs judged to draw on math, science, or spatial skills were rated as more strongly culturally stereotyped for men than women; jobs judged to draw on verbal skills were more strongly culturally stereotyped for women than men. Structural equation modeling showed that for both women and men, spatial task scores directly (and indirectly through spatial self-concept) related to greater interest in the job cluster closest to the one O*NET labeled "STEM". Findings suggest that pre-college interventions that improve spatial skills might be effective for increasing spatial self-concepts and the pursuit of STEM careers among students from traditionally under-represented groups, including women.

Navigating academic performance: Unravelling the relationship between emotional intelligence, learning styles, and science and technology self-efficacy among preservice science teachers

This research investigated the effects of emotional intelligence, learning styles, and science and technology self-efficacy on academic performance. Ninety-one preservice science teachers enrolled in the Bachelor of Science degree programs (Science) in education at the University of Ghana for the academic year 2020-2021 participated in this research. The researchers collected data using grade point averages, the Science and Technology Self-Efficacy scale, and the Schutte Self Report Emotional Intelligence Test scale. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, independent samples t-test, Pearson product moment correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression. The key findings in this research were that the study underscores the pivotal role of STEM field self-efficacy, especially for males, emphasizes the significance of nurturing confidence within the STEM field, and reveals a relationship between emotional intelligence and academic performance among preservice science teachers. This study adds to the literature examining factors influencing preservice science teachers' academic performance.

Mothers' and fathers' neural responses toward gender-stereotype violations by their own children

Gender stereotypes facilitate people's processing of social information by providing assumptions about expected behaviors and preferences. When gendered expectations are violated, people often respond negatively, both on a behavioral and neural level. Little is known about the impact of family kinship on the behavioral and neural reactions to gender-stereotype violations. Therefore, we examined whether parents show different responses when gender stereotypes are violated by their own children vs unknown children. The sample comprised 74 Dutch families with a father (Mage = 37.54), mother (Mage = 35.83), son, and daughter aged 3-6 years. Electroencephalography measurements were obtained while parents viewed pictures of their own and unknown children paired with toy or problem behavior words that violated or confirmed gender stereotypes. In half of the trials, parents evaluated the appropriateness of toy-gender and behavior-gender combinations. Parents showed stronger late positive potential amplitudes toward gender stereotype-violating behaviors by own children compared to unknown children. Moreover, parents' P1 responses toward gender stereotype-violating child behaviors were stronger for boys than for girls and for parents who evaluated gender-stereotype violations as less appropriate than gender-stereotype confirmations. These findings indicated that gender-stereotype violations by parents' own children are particularly salient and viewed as less appropriate than gender-stereotype confirmations.

Women in Plastic Surgery Innovation: A 10-Year Review of Gender Representation in Mammary Device Patents

BACKGROUND

This study aims to pioneer in evaluating women's representation in plastic surgery innovations, focusing on mammary prosthesis devices' inventorship. Despite growing gender parity in the field, women's involvement in innovation remains underexplored. This is especially crucial, as the predominant recipients of these innovative technologies are women, urging a necessity for broader female engagement in pioneering surgical advancements.

METHOD

Patents under the "A61F2/12: Mammary prostheses and implants" classification between the dates January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2020, were identified using Google Patents Advanced. Inclusion criteria included patents (not designs) in English and applications (not grants), with no litigation limitations. Data collected included ID, title, assignee (categorized as industry, academic, private, individual), inventors, and dates (priority, filing, and publication). Sex of inventors was identified with the literature validated gender API, with manual resolution of unresolved genders or with ga_accuracy scores of less than 75%. Data were analyzed using 2-tailed Student t tests, χ2 analysis, and Pearson correlation coefficient (significance set at P ≤ 0.05).

RESULTS

Of the more than 130,000 plastic surgery patents in English identified between the 10-year period, 1355 were classified as A61F2/12. A total of 374 unique patents were included for analysis (841 duplicates were removed, and 140 patents were excluded because of non-English character author names). There was a significant increase in patents over the decade (from 15 in 2011 to 88 in 2020, R2 = 0.74, P < 0.05), with a decrease in number of inventors per patent (R2 = 0.12, P < 0.05). Of the 1102 total inventors, 138 were female (11.2%), with a 4-fold increase in representation over the decade (R2 = 0.58, P < 0.05), including increase in patents filed with a woman first inventor (0%-14.8%). Women were equally likely to be first 3 inventors versus middle to last inventors (12.8% vs 11.1%, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Over a decade, mammary device innovations rose significantly. Although women inventors' representation improved, it remains disproportionate compared with women in residency/practice. Hence, interventions should aim to align inventor representation with training ratios, through institutional optimization, reducing gender segmentation, and enhancing funding opportunities.

Interactive Learning System for Learning Calculus

Background

IT tools has brought a new perspective to collaborative learning where students do not just sit in a chair and swallow lecture content but instead participate in creating and sharing knowledge. However, calculus learning augmented reality application has limitation in promoting a human collaboration in learning.

Purpose

This research develops an interactive application for learning calculus that promotes human-system interaction via augmented reality (AR) and human-human interaction through chat functions. The study examines the effect of both interactivities on learning experience and how that learning experience affects the performance of learning.

Methods

The research adopted a quasi-experimental study design and pre-post test data analysis to evaluate the effect of interactivities on learning experience and consequently the effect of learning experience on learning performance. The subjects were exposed to the developed application for learning the calculus chapter "Solid of Revolution" in a controlled environment. The study validated its research framework through partial least squares path modelling and tested three hypotheses via pre-and post-test evaluation.

Conclusions

The results found that both interactivities affect learning experience positively; human-human interactivity has a higher impact than the human-system interactivity. It was also found that learning performance as part of the learning experience increased from pre-test to post-test.

Black adolescents' motivation to resist the false dichotomy between mathematics achievement and racial identity

This study investigates the racial-mathematical identity profiles of Black American adolescents. Survey data were collected in five schools across one U.S. urban school district at two time points (spring 2018 [n = 197] and spring 2019 [n = 210]). Based on extant research regarding psychological response patterns to racialized school stress, we investigated the existence of an identity negotiation pattern in which students were motivated to resist negative stereotypes about Black people by achieving well in mathematics. We conducted a latent profile analysis combining students' self-beliefs across five indicators: racial centrality, racial public regard, mathematics attainment value, mathematics mastery experiences, and resistance motivation. Three distinct racial-mathematical identity profiles emerged: (1) Mathematics Devalued/Ambivalent, (2) Moderately Math Attained, and (3) Resistors. We found associations between profile membership and students' gender, negative math emotions, and their receipt of cultural and critical mathematics instruction. We also found an association between the identity profiles and school type (academically selective "magnet" schools vs. open-enrollment neighborhood schools), but not in the direction that might be assumed. Moreover, we found that certain school environment factors (i.e., racial stereotyping and cultural and critical mathematics instruction) were significantly different in racially diverse magnet schools than in the neighborhood schools. Overall, our data reveal the existence of a highly motivated Resistor profile among Black students, that is predicted by cultural and critical mathematics instruction but underrepresented within this district's selective magnet schools.

Analysis of adherence to a healthy lifestyle among vegetarian and non-vegetarian Peruvian university students: A cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND

Evidence shows that a healthy lifestyle can promote physical and mental well-being in the general population. However, there are few studies that assess the adherence to a healthy lifestyle in vegetarian and non-vegetarian university students. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the differences in adherence to a healthy lifestyle between vegetarian and non-vegetarian university students in Peru.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was carried out considering data from 6,846 students selected by non-probabilistic convenience sampling. The Diet and Healthy Lifestyle Scale (DEVS), the Peruvian validation of the Vegetarian Lifestyle Index (VLI), was used. In addition, sociodemographic and anthropometric data such as weight and height were collected. Body mass index (BMI) was also calculated.

RESULTS

Semi-vegetarian and vegetarian students had a high healthy lifestyle score compared to non-vegetarians. In addition, vegetarian diets showed a significantly higher proportion among students with a lower BMI (normal and underweight). Students with excess body weight (overweight and obesity) were less likely to report healthy lifestyle. In the overall population analyzed, it was observed that the levels of health and lifestyle behaviors, such as daily exercise and sunlight exposure, were mostly moderate and low. Additionally, sweets intake was high, while healthy food consumption such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains was low.

CONCLUSION

The current findings show that although vegetarians had better adherence to a healthy lifestyle, interventions in the university setting are needed to improve healthy lifestyle in university students.

Personal Misconduct Elicits Harsher Professional Consequences for Artists (vs. Scientists): A Moral-Decoupling Process

Recent years have brought increased accountability for personal misconduct, yet often, unequal consequences have resulted from similar offenses. Findings from a unique archival data set (N = 619; all university faculty) and three preregistered experiments (N = 2,594) show that the perceived artistic-versus-scientific nature of the offender's professional contributions influences the professional punishment received. In Study 1, analysis of four decades of university sexual-misconduct cases reveals that faculty in artistic (vs. scientific) fields have on average received more severe professional consequences. Study 2 demonstrates this experimentally, offering mediational evidence that greater difficulty morally decoupling art (vs. science) contributes to the phenomenon. Study 3 provides further evidence for this mechanism through experimental moderation. Finally, Study 4 shows that merely framing an individual's work as artistic versus scientific results in replication of these effects. Several potential alternative mechanisms to moral decoupling are tested but not supported. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Knowledge, attitude, and practice of virtual consultation among outpatients at a teaching hospital in Malaysia

INTRODUCTION

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the use of virtual consultations has accelerated to ensure continued access to healthcare despite lockdowns and physical distancing measures. We aimed to determine the knowledge (awareness) of, attitude (acceptability) to, and practice (exposure) [KAP] of virtual consultations (VC), the demographic factors associated with poor KAP, and the correlation between the three KAP domains.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study, using a convenience sampling technique, was conducted from 13 September, 2021 to 28 November, 2021. We designed a 45-item VC KAP questionnaire. This was distributed to outpatient users attending cardiovascular, dermatology, geriatrics, haematology, endocrine, respiratory, gastroenterology, rheumatology, or neurology clinics at the University Malaya Medical Centre. It was completed during face-to-face, online, or telephone interviews. The data were analysed using SPSS version 24.0. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the demographic factors associated with KAP. Correlation between KAP domains was determined using Spearman's rho (r). A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

A total of 366 questionnaires were completed. Knowledge (awareness), attitude (acceptability), and practice (exposure) were considered good in 69.7%, 80.9%, and 24.6% of participants, respectively. There were no significant relationships between age, gender, ethnicity, and duration of hospital attendance (years) with knowledge (awareness), attitude (acceptability), and practice (exposure). A moderate positive correlation was seen between knowledge (awareness) and attitude (acceptability) (Attitude total [Atotal]) (r = 0.48, p<0.001), with no significant correlation between knowledge (awareness) and practice (exposure) (r = 0.04, p = 0.45), and attitude (acceptability) (Atotal) and practice (r = 0.01, p = 0.82).

CONCLUSION

Overall, outpatient clinic users had good knowledge (awareness) of and were receptive towards VC but had poor practice (exposure). More opportunities for VC use in healthcare can increase exposure and subsequent utilisation. Interventions to increase the effectiveness of VC use should be explored in future studies.

Neuromyths and knowledge about intellectual giftedness in a highly educated multilingual country

Introduction

Understanding brain functioning and intellectual giftedness can be challenging and give rise to various misconceptions. Nonetheless, there seems to be a widespread fascination and appetite for these subjects among the lay public and diverse professionals. The present study is the first to investigate general knowledge about the brain, neuromyths and knowledge about giftedness in a highly multilingual and educated country.

Methods

Starting from and extending two seminal studies on neuromyths, several novel statements on intellectual giftedness have been included in order to explore knowledge and misconceptions concerning giftedness. Our sample (N = 200) was composed of Luxembourgish education professionals, including students in educational science and cognitive psychology, thus allowing to analyze responses in general and according to training and professional profiles. Specifically, Group 1 consisted of teachers and futures teachers (n = 152). Group 2 consisted of other education professionals and psychology students (n = 48).

Results

Despite the size and the unbalanced distribution of the sample, our findings indicate a good level of general knowledge about the brain and learning (71.3% of correct responses in average) which does, however, not preclude the presence of the typically observed original neuromyths. Thus, we replicate the classical finding that misconceptions on Learning Styles (70% of error rate) and the Multiple Intelligence Theory (71.5% of error rate) are the most represented, both in (future and in-service) teachers and other education professionals. Moreover, the present sample also revealed a high presence of misconceptions on intellectual giftedness.

Discussion

Limitations and future directions are discussed.

The impact of national culture in the development of complexity reasoning skills: An international comparison

There is a clear inequality in gender distribution for the STEM areas (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Furthermore, there is a noticeable lack of diversity and a socio-economic gap that requires actionable solutions. To explore potential factors that affect the participation of women in STEM, this paper reviews two possible groups of determinants: national culture and complexity thinking. A survey with 684 respondents from higher education institutions in Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, and Spain was undertaken. The instrument measured four components of complexity thinking namely critical, scientific, innovative, and systemic). Using analysis of variance between two groups and between multiple groups, differences were observed between the countries' samples and between genders. Once the significance was confirmed, boxplots for each dimension were elaborated to facilitate the visualization of the distributions. The scores were compared with the national culture values to seek possible behavioral patterns in the data. The results reveal two groups between the observed countries. Also, there are clear indications of a relationship between the national culture dimensions and the complex thinking components.

Survey of clinical informatics fellows graduating 2016-2024: experiences before and during fellowship

OBJECTIVE

To describe experiences and activities of Clinical Informatics (CI) fellows since the first fellowships were accredited in 2014.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We performed a voluntary and anonymous survey of 394 alumni and current clinical informatics fellows from the graduating classes of 2016-2024 in the summer of 2022.

RESULTS

We received 198 responses; 2% declined to participate. Most were male (62%), White (39%), 31-40 years old (72%), from primary care specialties (54%) and nonprocedural specialties (95%), and without prior informatics experience or any careers before medicine. Most fellows (87-94%) participated significantly in operations, research, coursework, quality improvement, and clinical care activities during fellowship.

DISCUSSION

Women, underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities, and procedural physicians were underrepresented. Many incoming CI fellows did not have an informatics background. During CI fellowship, trainees earned Master's degrees and certificates, were exposed to many different types of CI activities, and were able to spend most of their time pursuing projects that supported their personal career goals.

CONCLUSION

These findings represent the most comprehensive report to date of CI fellows and alumni. Physicians without prior informatics experience who are interested in CI should be encouraged to apply because CI fellowship provides a strong foundation of informatics knowledge while supporting fellows' personal career goals. There remains a lack of women and underrepresented minorities in CI fellowship programs; efforts to expand the pipeline are needed.

Are gender-science stereotypes barriers for women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics? Exploring when, how, and to whom in an experimentally-controlled setting

Based on Social Cognitive Career Theory principles, the present study sought to investigate whether stereotype threat experiences could act as a barrier and reduce the persistence of women in math-intensive activities. More specifically, we assessed whether the experimental activation of stereotypes about women's lower math capabilities affected the performance, persistence, and self-selected difficulty of engineering students in a math task which required sustained effort. We also evaluated the relationships between these effects and the participants' pre-testing gender-science stereotypes and math self-concept. A sample of 340 engineering students (175 and 165 self-identified as males and females, respectively) were recruited and randomly assigned to a control (Con) or stereotype threat (StA) condition to form four similarly sized groups. All participants rated their self-concept in four academic domains (math, chemistry, physics, and coding), completed the gender-science Implicit Association Test, and a "reading comprehension task" that served to promote the stereotype threat manipulation immediately before facing a modified version of the Math Effort Task (M-MET). We observed that, in the control condition, M-MET performance, self-selected difficulty, and persistence were similar in female and male participants, independent of their gender-science implicit stereotypes but correlated to their math self-concept scores. In contrast, the StA condition triggered opposite effects in female and male students, so they showed decreased/enhanced M-MET performance and self-selected difficulty, respectively. This experimental condition also resulted in enhanced persistence of the male students without affecting the number of trials completed by female students. These effects were correlated with the strength of the participants' gender-science implicit stereotypes but not with their math self-concept scores. In fact, as revealed by finer-grain analyses, stereotype threat only had a significant impact on individuals harboring stereotypical gender-science implicit associations. Therefore, it is concluded that: (1) stereotypes can promote differences between male and female engineering students in their performance, self-confidence, and persistence in math-related activities; (2) These effects seem to be more prominent in individuals implicitly perceiving science as a masculine domain. The relevance of these findings to explain women's enhanced abandonment rates of math-intensive studies is discussed.

A Call to Action for Gender Equity in Climate Leadership

Climate action is not advancing quickly enough to prevent catastrophic harm. Understanding why might require looking at existing leadership structures and the inequitable gender representation therein. Critically examining dominant power structures could pave the way toward more comprehensive, innovative, and expedient environmental solutions-and we argue that elevating women's climate leadership is key to safeguarding planetary health. Women have historically been left out of climate science and governance leadership. Women are disproportionately impacted by the health effects of climate change, particularly in Indigenous and low- and middle-income settings. Therefore, our call for women's climate leadership is both an issue of justice and a matter of effectiveness, given evidence that inclusive leadership rooted in gender justice leads to more equitable outcomes. Here, we present evidence for why gender equity in climate leadership matters along with considerations for how to attain it across sectors and stakeholders.

Sleep Time and Depression Symptoms as Predictors of Cognitive Development Among Adolescents: A Cross-Lagged Study From China

Sleep time and depression symptoms are important factors affecting cognitive development in adolescents. Based on the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS) database, this study used a two-wave cross-lagged model to examine the bidirectional relationship between sleep time, depression symptoms, and cognitive development. Descriptive statistics showed that Chinese adolescents' cognitive development increased significantly from 7th to 8th grade in junior high school, but unfortunately, their depression level and average sleep time per night demonstrated a slightly deteriorating trend. Correlation analysis showed that there was a relatively stable negative correlation between cognitive development, sleep time, and depression symptoms. Moreover, the cross-lagged model revealed that there was a bidirectional relationship between cognitive development and sleep time, a bidirectional relationship between depression symptoms and sleep time, and a unidirectional relationship between depression symptoms and cognitive development. Male adolescents in the subgroup were consistent with the total sample. Among female adolescents, only cognitive development and sleep time have a bidirectional relationship, while depression symptoms and cognitive development, and depression symptoms and sleep time have a unidirectional relationship. Therefore, it is of significance to take targeted action to promote cognitive development and healthy growth in adolescents worldwide.

Gender disparity in STEM education: a survey research on girl participants in World Robot Olympiad

Robotics competitions boosts the development of STEM education, but gender disparity in this field remains rarely addressed by researchers. This study focused on the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) and tried to explore the gender differences through investigation method. The research questions are as follows: RQ1, what is the tendency of girls' participation in WRO from 2015 to 2019 in terms of the four competition categories and three age groups? RQ2, what advantages and challenges do the all-girl teams have from the perspectives of parents, coaches and students? The results showed that among the 5956 participants in the 2015-2019 WRO finals, girls accounted for only 17.3%. The Open Category that emphasized creativity attracted relatively more girl participants. As age group moved up, the number of girl participants decreased. The qualitative results showed that the focuses of coaches, parents and students was not exactly the same. All-girl team have the advantages in their communication, presentation and collaboration skills but less good at robot building. The results indicated the importance of promoting girl's participation in robot competitions and STEM fields. Coaches, mentors and parents need to provide girls with more support and encouragement in learning STEM subjects, especially at the junior high school level. Organizers of related competitions should give girls more exposure and opportunities by adjusting the mechanism.

An Intersectional Application of Expectancy-Value Theory in an Undergraduate Chemistry Course

The underrepresentation of women and Black, Latinx, and Native Americans within the United States scientific workforce is a persistent and multifaceted problem warranting an intersectional approach. Applying intersectionality to the expectancy-value theory of motivation, we examined initial motivation and subsequent achievement among a sample of undergraduate students ( N = 687) enrolled in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) gateway course of introductory chemistry at a diverse 4-year university. We found no racial/ethnic group differences in initial motivation, but small ( d = .30) group differences in achievement. Results revealed a pattern of gender differences across both underrepresented (i.e., Black, Latinx, and Native American) and well-represented (i.e., White, Asian American) racial/ethnic groups such that, relative to men, women began the class with lower levels of confidence about their performance, but greater utility value and attainment value in learning chemistry. Consistent with expectancy-value theory, motivation at the beginning of the semester positively predicted final exam scores across gender and racial/ethnic intersectional groups. For Black, Latinx, and Native American students, attainment value was an especially strong predictor of subsequent achievement. Our findings point to the need to cultivate social contexts within undergraduate STEM education that promotes all aspects of science motivation among students from underrepresented groups. Additional online materials for this article are available on PWQ's website at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/03616843231153390 .

Linking gender differences with gender equality: A systematic-narrative literature review of basic skills and personality

There is controversy regarding whether gender differences are smaller or larger in societies that promote gender equality highlighting the need for an integrated analysis. This review examines literature correlating, on a national level, gender differences in basic skills-mathematics, science (including attitudes and anxiety), and reading-as well as personality, to gender equality indicators. The aim is to assess the cross-national pattern of these differences when linked to measures of gender equality and explore new explanatory variables that can shed light on this linkage. The review was based on quantitative research relating country-level measures of gender differences to gender equality composite indices and specific indicators. The findings show that the mathematics gender gap from the PISA and TIMMS assessments, is not linked to composite indices and specific indicators, but gender differences are larger in gender-equal countries for reading, mathematics attitudes, and personality (Big Five, HEXACO, Basic Human Values, and Vocational Interests). Research on science and overall scores (mathematics, science, and reading considered together) is inconclusive. It is proposed that the paradox in reading results from the interrelation between basic skills and the attempt to increase girls' mathematics abilities both acting simultaneously while the paradox in mathematics attitudes might be explained by girls being less exposed to mathematics than boys. On the other hand, a more nuanced understanding of the gender equality paradox in personality is advanced, in which a gene-environment-cultural interplay accounts for the phenomenon. Challenges for future cross-national research are discussed.

Herminthology: promoting gender equity in science and parasitology

Gender inequity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medicine (STEM) fields, including parasitology, continues to limit the participation of women in scientific leadership and development. Here we highlight the aims and activities of Herminthology, an initiative promoting the work of women in parasitology, alongside the current status quo of men and women scientists in the discipline.

Gender Inequalities in Citations of Articles Published in High-Impact General Medical Journals: a Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

Besides the number of publications, the number of citations is another key metric often used to compare researchers with each other. While women researchers tend to have fewer publications than their men colleagues, the data is scarce for the number of citations. We aimed to determine whether there is a gender gap in citations.

METHODS

We used Web of Science to retrieve the number of citations per year for all research articles and reviews published between January 2015 and December 2019 in fourteen high-impact general medical journals (impact factor > 5). We used Gender API to identify the gender of the first/last authors. We compared the results by gender using multivariable negative binomial regressions (adjusting for intra-cluster correlations within journals).

RESULTS

The gender of the first/last author was determined for 13,218/13,350 (99%) and 11,894/12,026 (99%) articles, respectively. The proportion of women among first/last authors was 40% and 29%, respectively. The median number of citations per year was 5 (IQR = 11.3) for women and 6.8 (IQR = 17.8) for men for first authors (IRR = 1.5 [95% CI = 1.3-1.8], p value < 0.001), and 6 (IQR = 12.4) and 7.5 (IQR = 17.4) for last authors (IRR = 1.3 [95% CI = 1.2-1.5], p value < 0.001). Articles whose first and last authors were women were the least cited and those whose first and last authors were men were the most cited.

CONCLUSION

In this cross-sectional study, we found that articles authored by women were cited less often than those authored by men. Further studies are needed to explore the reasons for these gender differences in article citations.

Understanding the role of peer pressure on engineering students' learning behavior: A TPB perspective

Introduction

With the advent of the digital age, the gradually increasing demands of the engineering job market make it inevitable that engineering students face the pressures that arise from academic life with their peers. To address this issue, this study aims to explore the influence of engineering students' peer pressure on learning behavior based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB).

Methods

In addition to attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral controls inherent in TPB, two new dimensions-gender difference and peer academic ability-were incorporated to construct a framework of the dimensions of peer pressure as affecting engineering students as well as an expanded model of TPB. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 160 college engineering students and a structural equation model (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses.

Results

The result showed that positive peer pressure can increase engineering students' learning intention and thus promote learning behavior. It was also determined that the TPB model can effectively explain the effect of peer pressure on learning behavior, in addition to expanding and reshaping the relationship between the attitudinal dimension in the TPB model.

Discussion

From the results, it is clear that positive attitudes toward learning can trigger positive peer pressure. Good group norms can induce peer pressure through rewards and punishments as a way to motivate students' learning intention and learning behaviors. When peer pressure is perceived, students mobilize positive emotions toward learning. Meanwhile, both male and female engineering students are also significantly motivated by high peer achievement, and high-performing female students motivate their male peers, which leads to higher graduation rates.

Decline Is Not Inevitable: Changes in Science Identity during the Progression through a U.S. Middle School among Boys and Girls

In the United States, science capital is important for navigating many aspects of life. Yet during middle school, science interest declines more for girls than boys. It is unclear, however, whether science identity also declines during the middle school years and if there are differences by gender. The authors advance prior research by modeling changes in science identity and associations with changes in identity-relevant characteristics using growth curve analyses on four waves of data from 760 middle school youth. For girls and boys, science identity changes over time; about 40 percent of the variance is within-person change, with the remainder explained by aggregate between-person differences. The associations of all identity-relevant characteristics with science identity are not significantly different for girls and boys, yet declines in average values of identity-relevant characteristics are larger for girls than boys.

The impact of guidance counselling on gender segregation: Major choice and persistence in higher education. An experimental study

Gender segregation in higher education is considered one of the main drivers of persistent economic gender inequality. Yet, though there has been considerable research identifying and describing the underlying mechanisms that cause gendered educational choices in higher education, little is known about how gender segregation in higher education could be changed. Accordingly, this article aims to determine the potential of educational interventions during high school to foster gender desegregation in higher education. We focused on two different processes that contribute to gender segregation in majors among higher education graduates: first, the selection into specific majors and, second, the selection out of specific majors. We investigated whether an intensive counselling programme leads to more gender-atypical choices among high-school graduates and examined whether intensive counselling supports several indicators of students' persistence in gender-atypical majors. Based on data from an experimental study of a counselling programme for German high-school students (N = 625), we estimated the programme's effect with linear probability models and intention-to-treat analysis. Our results show that high-school graduates are more likely to choose a gender-atypical major if they have received intensive counselling. This applies more to men than to women. In addition, the programme improved some persistence indicators for students in gender-atypical majors. Although we found a significant programme effect only for perceived person-major fit and student satisfaction, the coefficients of all aspects of students' persistence show a trend indicating that the programme was beneficial for students in gender-atypical majors. As experimental studies can also be affected by various types of bias, we performed several robustness checks. All analyses indicated stable results. In conclusion, we suggest that intensive counselling programmes have the potential to reduce gender segregation in higher education. More students were motivated to choose a gender-atypical major, and different aspects of student persistence were supported by the programme for students in gender-atypical majors.

Personal Relative Deprivation Increases Men's (but Not Women's) Hostile Sexism: The Mediating Role of Sense of Control

Hostile sexism is a blatant and explicit form of sexism consisting of antagonistic attitudes toward women. We hypothesized that men's personal relative deprivation, a subjectively perceived disadvantage, would predict their hostile sexism toward women. In addition, we expected that, if this effect occurs, a sense of control would act as a mediator. Five studies ( N = 1352) confirmed these hypotheses. Study 1 showed that personal relative deprivation predicted hostile sexism only for men, but not for women among Chinese college students. In addition, we observed the effect of personal relative deprivation only on hostile sexism, but not on benevolent sexism. Study 2, which employed participants from the United States, directly replicated the findings of Study 1. Studies 3 and 4 further showed that a sense of control acted as a mediator in this process. As such, increased hostile sexism attitude (Study 3) and hostile sexism behavior (Study 4) predicted by personal relative deprivation could result from a reduced sense of control. Study 5 further provided causal evidence that a temporarily induced state of personal relative deprivation resulted in a higher level of hostile sexism via a reduced sense of control. We discuss theoretical and practical implications for relative deprivation, gender inequality, and interventions.

Associations between adolescent students' multiple domain task value-cost profiles and STEM aspirations

According to the modern expectancy-value theory, students' task values may differ across domains, manifesting as varying motivational patterns. In middle school, students' motivation becomes increasingly apparent and may direct their future occupational aspirations. Using a person-oriented approach, this study examines students' self-concept, and positive and negative task values (i.e., utility value, intrinsic value, and emotional cost) across Finnish language, math, biology, and physics, and the stability of the identified profiles. Further, the associations of the profiles with students' subsequent academic achievement and math and natural science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)/health science STEM aspirations, and gendered effects were examined. Longitudinal data was collected through Grades 7 to 9 in 21 middle schools in Helsinki, Finland (N = 1,309, N = 1,179, N = 818, respectively; age 13-15 years; 55.9% female). Latent profile analysis (LPA) identified four task value profiles in Grades 7 and 8: Low motivation high cost STEM (13%/13%) showed low task values with high cost, especially in math and physics; High motivation low cost STEM (7%/8%) showed the highest task values with the lowest cost, especially in math and physics; High motivation high cost (18%/17%) showed high task values and cost across domains; and Moderate motivation and cost (62%/62%) showed moderate task values and cost across domains. The latent transition analysis identified Moderate motivation and cost as the most stable profile across 2 years. In comparison to the other profiles, students with a Low motivation high cost STEM profile were less likely to have STEM aspirations in Grade 9. These results suggests that majority of middle school students are highly to moderately motivated in various domains, however, some students simultaneously experience high cost. It may reflect the increasingly difficult courses and study demands in middle school.

Gender representation and academic achievement among STEM-interested students in college STEM courses

Substantial gender equity gaps in postsecondary degree completion persist within many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, and these disparities have not narrowed during the 21st century. Various explanations of this phenomenon have been offered; one possibility that has received limited attention is that the sparse representation of women itself has adverse effects on the academic achievement-and ultimately the persistence and graduation-of women who take STEM courses. This study explored the relationship between two forms of gender representation (i.e., the proportion of female students within a course and the presence of a female instructor) and grades within a sample of 11,958 STEM-interested undergraduates enrolled in 8686 different STEM courses at 20 colleges and universities. Female student representation within a course predicted greater academic achievement in STEM for all students, and these findings were generally stronger among female students than male students. Female students also consistently benefitted more than male students from having a female STEM instructor. These findings were largely similar across a range of student and course characteristics and were robust to different analytic approaches; a notable exception was that female student representation had particularly favorable outcomes for female students (relative to male students) within mathematics/statistics and computer science courses.

Student trainee and paid internship programs have positive results but do little to influence long-term employee diversity in the USDA forest service

Women and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) employees are underrepresented in science and natural resource management institutions. Student and recent graduate trainee and internship programs have been used to try to address this in United States federal agencies over the last few decades. Our study evaluates how effective such programs are at improving U.S. federal workforce diversity. We used a comprehensive employee dataset from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service-which has the largest natural resource management workforce in the country-to analyze the demographic characteristics and career paths of paid interns from 1996-2017. We found that a majority of employees who started as interns later converted to permanent employment with the USDA Forest Service. In addition, Black and Hispanic interns were, respectively, 5 and 3 times more likely than White interns to work for the agency in permanent positions after their internships. However, people who started as interns had significantly shorter USDA Forest Service careers than those who started in permanent positions. White women entering directly into permanent positions typically advanced to higher pay grades through promotion faster than White women who entered as interns. Finally, male BIPOC interns involuntarily separated (i.e., were fired) at significantly higher rates than all other employees. Our study suggests that while internship employment programs can be an effective tool for hiring a diverse workforce, they are not sufficient to close the overall workforce diversity gap. In addition, only a small percentage of new hires every year are interns. To achieve a level of representation that mirrors the civilian labor force, our study suggests that internship programs need to focus on long-term employee retention and be of significantly larger scale.

Exploring Gender Differences in Computational Thinking Learning in a VR Classroom: Developing Machine Learning Models Using Eye-Tracking Data and Explaining the Models

Understanding existing gender differences in the development of computational thinking skills is increasingly important for gaining valuable insights into bridging the gender gap. However, there are few studies to date that have examined gender differences based on the learning process in a realistic classroom context. In this work, we aim to investigate gender classification using students’ eye movements that reflect temporal human behavior during a computational thinking lesson in an immersive VR classroom. We trained several machine learning classifiers and showed that students’ eye movements provide discriminative information for gender classification. In addition, we employed a Shapley additive explanation (SHAP) approach for feature selection and further model interpretation. The classification model trained with the selected (best) eye movement feature set using SHAP achieved improved performance with an average accuracy of over $$70\%$$ 70 % . The SHAP values further explained the classification model by identifying important features and their impacts on the model output, namely gender. Our findings provide insights into the use of eye movements for in-depth investigations of gender differences in learning activities in VR classroom setups that are ecologically valid and may provide clues for providing personalized learning support and tutoring in such educational systems or optimizing system design.

Are synchronous chats a silver lining of emergency remote instruction? Text-based chatting is disproportionately favored by women in a non-majors introductory biology course

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a reimagining of many aspects of higher education, including how instructors interact with their students and how they encourage student participation. Text-based chatting during synchronous remote instruction is a simple form of student-student and student-instructor interaction. The importance of student participation has been documented, as have clear disparities in participation between those well-represented and those under-represented in science disciplines. Thus, we conducted an investigation into who is texting, what students are texting, and how these texts align with course content. We focused on two sections of a large-enrollment, introductory biology class offered remotely during Fall 2020. Using an analysis of in-class chatting, in combination with student survey responses, we find that text-based chatting suggests not only a high level of student engagement, but a type of participation that is disproportionately favored by women. Given the multiple lines of evidence indicating that women typically under-participate in their science courses, any vehicle that counters this trend merits further exploration. We conclude with suggestions for further research, and ideas for carrying forward text-based chatting in the post-COVID-19, in-person classroom.

Factors to consider from education to promote an image of science and technology with a gender perspective

The image of science influences on the decision of girls when opting for studies related to STEM disciplines, since in many cases they are perceived as masculine, due to the image promoted from different areas of society, including the education system. Consequently, women do not feel identified with these disciplines, and prejudices and beliefs are generated that promote the well-known gender gap that exists in these areas. Therefore, this article sets out the considerations to be taken into account from science and technology education to avoid showing an image of science as individual, stereotyped and elitist, among other aspects, and, ultimately, to promote an image of science and technology with a gender perspective. It is necessary to transform curricular content and teacher training following these considerations, so that students perceive a realistic image of science and technology. This will have a positive influence by minimising the Pygmalion effect that occurs in girls and helping to combat social inequality that generates the under-representation of women in scientific-technological fields.

Exploring Gender Differences in Coding at the Beginning of Primary School

The gender gap in Computer Science (CS) is widely documented worldwide. Only a few studies, however, have investigated whether and how gender differences manifest early in the learning of computing, at the beginning of primary school. Coding, seen as an element of Computational Thinking, has entered the curriculum of primary school education in several countries. As the early years of primary education happen before gender stereotypes in CS are expected to be fully endorsed, the opportunity to learn coding for boys and girls at that age might in principle help reduce the gender gap later observed in CS education. Prior research findings however suggest that an advantage for boys in coding tasks may begin to emerge already since preschool or the early grades of primary education. In the present study we explored whether the coding abilities of 1st graders, at their first experience with coding, are affected by gender differences, and whether their presence associates with gender differences in executive functions (EF), i.e., response inhibition and planning skills. Earlier research has shown strong association between children's coding abilities and their EF, as well as the existence of gender differences in the maturation of response inhibition and planning skills, but with an advantage for girls. In this work we assessed the coding skills and response inhibition and planning skills of 109 Italian first graders, 45 girls and 64 boys, before an introductory coding course (pretest), when the children had no prior experience of coding. We then repeated the assessment after the introductory coding course (posttest). No statistically significant difference between girls and boys emerged at the pretest, whereas an advantage in coding appeared for boys at the posttest. Mediation analyses carried out to test the hypothesis of a mediation role of EF on gender differences in coding show that the gender differences in coding were not mediated by the children's EF (response inhibition or planning). These results suggest that other factors must be accounted for to explain this phenomenon. The different engagement of boys and girls in the coding activities, and/or other motivational and sociocognitive variables, should be explored in future studies.

Gendered difference in motivational profiles, achievement, and STEM aspiration of elementary school students

To better understand the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) aspiration, the article examines the critical role of domain-specific motivation (i.e., expectancy and task values). Using longitudinal data from 5th and 6th grade (∼11–12-year-old) students (n = 360, 55% girls), person-oriented analyses was applied to understand the gendered motivational profiles and their longitudinal influence on achievement and STEM aspiration. Specifically, we aimed to (1) derive motivational belief profiles regarding science, mathematics, and language (Finnish), (2) analyze the stability and change in the profiles between the 5th and 6th grade, (3) assess the relationship between motivational profiles and achievement and STEM aspiration, and (4) test for gender differences. We derived four motivational profiles for both years: high motivation in all subjects (∼21%), high mathematics motivation (∼46%), low mathematics motivation (∼11%), and low motivation in all subjects (∼8%). Latent transition analysis revealed that most students remained in the same profile throughout the 2 years. We found evidence of gendered differences in the motivational profiles and the chance of transitioning between profiles. More girls are characterized by low math motivation, while boys are more likely to transition to higher math motivation in 6th grade. The motivational difference is reflected in their achievement, although not strongly coupled with their STEM aspiration. The findings suggest that at this developmental stage, Finnish students have not developed a strong association between (gendered) STEM aspiration and their domain-specific motivation, although their motivation may have influenced their achievement. Interpretation and practical implications are discussed.

Transcend socioeconomic status constraints to mathematics and science achievement by collaborative problem-solving: The female people-smartness hypothesis

This study examines the female people-smartness (FPS) hypothesis, which addresses the reasons why females are more responsive to socioeconomic status (SES) and posits that using females’ strengths of people-smartness can assist females to overcome SES constraints. This study used data from the student surveys of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2015, including 519,334 students from 72 participating countries and economies. The results of the general linear model analysis revealed that females are better at collaborative problem-solving (CPS) and reading, while males are better at mathematics and science. Structural equation modeling revealed that the effect of SES on (mathematics and science) achievement is higher for females than for males. CPS can reduce the effect of SES on achievement. The findings generally support the FPS hypothesis and suggest that CPS-related competences should be emphasized and exercised to transcend SES constraints, especially for females in STEM curricula, studies and careers.

Student Experiences and Changing Science Interest When Transitioning from K-12 to College

Student attitude and involvement in the sciences may be positively or negatively influenced through both formal academic experiences and informal experiences outside the classroom. Researchers have reported that differences in science interest between genders begin early in a student’s career and that attitudes towards a particular field of science can be correlated to achievement in that field. In this study, we approach the question of how attitudes towards science have been shaped using college-age students. Survey data from students in similar academic positions were employed to control for differences in cultural and academic progress. Results from a self-reflection survey indicated that general personal interest in both science as a process and field-specific content increased from elementary school through high school until entering college. Differences arose between self-identified genders in student experiences with science, both while in groups and when on their own. Female students had higher rates of participation and enjoyment with science in groups, while male students more frequently enjoyed science alone. Students, regardless of gender, rarely had negative experiences with science outside of the classroom. However, male students’ interest in science surpassed female students’ during high school. Declining interests in quantitative aspects of science (mathematics and statistics) were more frequently reported by female students and non-STEM majors during and before their college experience. Connecting student attitudes regarding science to their pre-college experiences with science early in their college career may be important to understanding how to best engage all genders, as well as non-STEM majors, in their college science courses.

Implicit gender-science stereotypes and college-major intentions of italian adolescents

Gender stereotypes are often viewed as one of the root causes of the gender gap in STEM. According to Eccles’ model, they would indirectly influence major choices by shaping expectations of success and values attached to the viable options. However, empirical findings on the link between implicit gender-science stereotypes and college major intentions are limited. To fill this gap, the current study examines this association in a mixed-gender sample of 302 Italian high-school students. Logistic regression analysis revealed that implicit gender stereotypes were directly associated with females’ intention of majoring in STEM. Unlike previous findings, the mediation analysis could not confirm that other relevant factors, i.e., interest in the subject, performance at school, identification with the subject, and value attributed to the job’s salary and social utility, moderated this association.

Using social media advertisement data to monitor the gender gap in STEM: opportunities and challenges

Boosting the number of women and girls entering careers involving STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) is crucial to achieving gender equality, one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Girls and women tend to gravitate away from STEM fields at multiple stages from childhood through mid-career. The leaky pipeline is a metaphor often used to describe the loss of women in STEM and arguably other fields before reaching senior roles. Do interests expressed on social media mirror the leaky pipeline phenomenon? In this article, we collected advertisement data (reach estimates) from Facebook and Instagram disaggregated by US metros, age, gender, and interests related to STEM. We computed the Gender Gap Index (GGI) for each US metro and age group. We found that on Instagram, the GGIs for interest in Science decrease as users' age increases, suggesting that relatively there is evidence that that women, compared to men, are losing interest in STEM at older ages. In particular, we find that on Instagram, there are plausible relative trends but implausible absolute levels. Nevertheless, is this enough to conclude that online data available from Instagram mirror the leaky pipeline phenomenon? To scrutinize this, we compared the GGIs for an interest in Science with the GGIs for placebo interests unrelated to STEM. We found that the GGIs for placebo interests follow similar age patterns as the GGIs for the interest in Science across US metros. Second, we attempted to control for the time spent on the platform by computing a usage intensity gender ratio based on the difference between daily and monthly active users. This analysis showed that the usage intensity gender ratio is higher among teenagers (13-17 years) than other older age groups, suggesting that teenage girls are more engaged on the platform that teenage boys. We hypothesize that usage intensity differences, rather than inherent interest changes, might create the illusion of a leaky pipeline. Despite the previously demonstrated value and huge potential of social media advertisement data to study social phenomena, we conclude that there is little evidence that this novel data source can measure the decline in interest in STEM for young women in the USA.

Iconic Mathematics: Math Designed to Suit the Mind

Mathematics is a struggle for many. To make it more accessible, behavioral and educational scientists are redesigning how it is taught. To a similar end, a few rogue mathematicians and computer scientists are doing something more radical: they are redesigning mathematics itself, improving its ergonomic features. Charles Peirce, an important contributor to ordinary symbolic logic, also introduced a rigorous but non-symbolic, graphical alternative to it that is easier to picture. In the spirit of this iconic logic, George Spencer-Brown founded iconic mathematics. Performing iconic arithmetic, algebra, and even trigonometry, resembles doing calculations on an abacus, which is still popular in education today, has aided humanity for millennia, helps even when it is merely imagined, and ameliorates severe disability in basic computation. Interestingly, whereas some intellectually disabled individuals excel in very complex numerical tasks, others of normal intelligence fail even in very simple ones. A comparison of their wider psychological profiles suggests that iconic mathematics ought to suit the very people traditional mathematics leaves behind.