Is the Gender Gap in STEM Culturally Specific? Choosing Scientific and Other Career Fields in Cambodia

• In Event: Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: Participation of Marginalized Students in STEM

Abstract

Little is understood regarding the ambitions of Cambodia’s people, the majority of which are young and often at least partially enrolled in university. In the throes of rapid development, Cambodia is gambling on an investment in higher education. This paper reports on analyses of primary and secondary data on Cambodian universities. Interestingly, focus group interviews and fieldwork show regional and class variation in attitudes among students and their parents about the appropriateness of girls going into engineering, computer/information technology, and accounting. This may be because of the compounding effects of decades of communism and NGO involvement in emphasizing gender equality on an otherwise traditional culture. This study has implications for investments to keep women in the scientific pipeline.

Authors

• Lara Perez-Felkner, Florida State University

• Samantha Nix, Florida State University

• Jordan Hopkins, Florida State University

• Kirby Thomas, Florida State University