Gender Gap in STEM Education and Career Choices: What Matters?

Autor/inn/en	Tandrayen-Ragoobur, Verena; Gokulsing, Deepa
Titel	Gender Gap in STEM Education and Career Choices: What Matters?
Quelle	In: Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 14 (2022) 3, S.1021-1040 (20 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Tandrayen-Ragoobur, Verena)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2050-7003
DOI	10.1108/JARHE-09-2019-0235
Schlagwörter	Gender Differences; STEM Education; Career Choice; Foreign Countries; Postsecondary Education; Academic Degrees; Probability; Enrollment; Family Influence; Teacher Influence; Sex Stereotypes; Self Efficacy; Mauritius + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Geschlechterkonflikt; STEM; Ausland; Post-secondary education; Tertiäre Bildung; Degree; Degrees; Academic level graduation; Akademischer Grad; Hochschulabschluss; Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung; Wahrscheinlichkeitstheorie; Einschulung; Self-efficacy; Selbstwirksamkeit
Abstract	Purpose: The paper innovates on the existing literature by assessing the gender gap in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) tertiary education enrolment and career choice in a small country setting and by extending on Master and Meltzoff (2016) theoretical framework to provide a holistic explanation of the gender disparity through a mix of personal, environmental and behavioural factors. The study first probes into the existence of potential gender disparity in STEM tertiary enrolment in Mauritius. Second, in contrast with existing studies where selective factors are used to measure the gender gap in STEM education, this paper investigates into a combination of personal, environmental and behavioural factors that may influence participation in STEM education and career. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses a survey of 209 undergraduates enroled in the main public university and investigates into the existence of a gender gap in STEM tertiary education enrolment and the reasons behind this disparity. Consistent with the theoretical model, the empirical analysis also investigates into the work environment (which cannot be measured from the survey), via semi-structured interviews of 15 women in STEM professions. Findings: The logit regression results first reveal the existence of a gender disparity in the choice of STEM-related degrees. The probability of a female student to enrol in a STEM degree is lower than that of a male student, after controlling for all the personal, environmental and behavioural factors. The most important set of reasons influencing the student's STEM degree choice are self-efficacy and the student's academic performance in STEM subjects at secondary school level. The findings also demonstrate that young women are relatively more likely to choose STEM degrees than their male counterparts when they are supported by their family, school and teachers. There is further evidence of lower participation of women in STEM professions as well as significant challenges which women in STEM careers face compared to their male colleagues. Originality/value: This study adopts a holistic framework to assess the factors that hinder women's participation in STEM tertiary education and career in Mauritius. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01