Gender Equity in College Majors: Looking Beyond the STEM/non-STEM Dichotomy for Answers Regarding Female Participation

• In Event: Factors Influencing Female Participation in STEM Fields: New Insights From Longitudinal Data

Abstract

Females are underrepresented in most STEM majors, yet overrepresented in non-STEM majors. In the current research, though, we ask if we can learn more about the gendered college-major choices students make by looking beyond the STEM/non-STEM dichotomy. That is, rather than examining the relative likelihoods of males and females with similar characteristics entering a STEM field, we examine the relative likelihoods that males and females with similar characteristics will enter a field that has a certain amount of a specific feature (e.g., a creativity orientation, a mathematics orientation). Our study proceeds in two parts.

First, through an iterative, mixed-methods process of scale development, we developed seven scales that tapped into different features of college majors: (1) math-oriented, (2) science-oriented, (3) creativity-oriented, (4) real-world-oriented, (5) helpful-oriented, (6) money-oriented, and (7) male-oriented. We then collected ratings of 4-5 items representing each of the 7 scales on 20 majors (e.g., Economics, Psychology, Computer Science) from over 1,000 individuals in the general population. We then conducted a confirmatory factor analysis on these ratings to obtain mean factor scores for each major on each scale. For example, Economics has a higher rating on math-oriented than does Psychology or Art, but not as high as does Physical Science or Mathematics. Fields such as Education and Psychology had low ratings of male-oriented, while Computer Science and Engineering had high male-oriented ratings (even after controlling for people’s perceptions of the proportions of males in each field).

Second, we combined the continuous ratings of features of majors with data from the nationally-representative Education Longitudinal Study: 2002 (ELS) by assigning the mean factor score for each major to each student in that major. We then estimated a series of seven structural equation models to examine whether, for example, females or males were more likely major in fields that were more math-oriented, after controlling for individual factors (e.g., 10th- and 12th-grade math achievement, math interest, math confidence, math pipeline in high school, SES, race, attitudes) and for the other dimensions associated with the field (e.g., male-oriented, creativity-oriented).

Among a number of intriguing findings, we find that females are less likely than males to enter male-oriented fields, even after accounting for the background of the individual student and the other features of the major. In addition, we find that high-school math confidence and interest were significant predictors of pursuing a math-oriented major whereas math achievement and preparation were not. Importantly, a portion of the relation between gender and pursuing a math-oriented major was mediated by math interest and confidence.

These results suggest that gender stereotypes (perceived or actual) play a role in the selection of college majors above and beyond the interests and preparation of the individual student, as well as above and beyond other features of the major. They also point to math confidence and interest at high school as potential points for student-level interventions to decrease the gender difference in the pursuance of math-oriented careers. Moreover, this research suggests novel methods for future research.

Authors

• Joseph P. Robinson-Cimpian, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Colleen M. Ganley, Florida State University

• Casey E. George-Jackson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Martha Makowski, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign