Qualitative Study: Social Cohesion and Peer Support From High School Robotics Supports Females in STEM

• In Event: Disclosing Women Voices Around STEM Fields and Applied Uses

Abstract

Young women benefited from a network of social cohesion and peer support, a form of social capital, which emerged from participation in a well-known high school robotics program. This factor was part of a larger grounded theory qualitative study (dissertation) with a foundation in career theories that explored the influences of the robotics program on young women’s career decisions, with a particular interest in STEM careers. This paper explores one part of the nascent model, sharing young women’s stories from which the category of social cohesion and peer support arose.

Author

• Ceal Craig, Druai Education Research