Gender Gaps in Math Performance, Perceived Mathematical Ability, and College STEM Education: The Role of Parental Occupation

• In Event: 43.026 - Factors That Stagnate or Promote STEM Interest in College: A Longitudinal Perspective

Abstract

The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employment opportunities in occupations related to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, the so-called STEM fields, will continue growing through time. Despite this prospect and the growth on female labor participation, women remain underrepresented in STEM college degree completion and occupations. As a result, encouraging women into the STEM fields has become an important policy concern. However, a necessary first step for this aim is to gain a better understanding of the drivers of such gender gap in STEM.
In this paper, we use linear probability models and data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), to study the presence of gender differences, during childhood, in math achievement and self-perceived math ability and how they differ by parental occupation type
(i.e., STEM versus non-STEM parental occupations). We then study their role on subsequent decision of majoring in a STEM field in college.
Scholars have argued that gaps in math performance are an important factor affecting STEM outcomes and that they begin early in elementary school (e.g. Robinson and Lubienski, 2011). These achievement gaps could limit girls’ access to advanced math courses and upper-secondary education in STEM fields. Another factor is the role that gender differences in perceived math ability could have in explaining the gender gap in STEM courses, college majors and occupations. Author (2015) and Author (2017) showed that, among high school students, boys exhibited higher levels of perceived math ability than girls and high levels of perceived math ability significantly predicted the likelihood of enrolling in mathematically-intensive courses.
An important remaining factor, less studied in the STEM gender gap literature, is the potential role of parental occupation type. Research has found that children whose parents believe that math and science are important for subsequent education and future employment are more likely to have higher math test scores and enroll in more math and science courses (Giannelli & Rapallini, 2017; Harackiewicz et al., 2012). These attributes are potentially very different among parents in STEM and non-STEM occupations. Finally, Cheng et al. (2017) found that parental role modeling effects through the type of occupation they hold could be especially important for women’s long-term STEM outcomes.
Our results corroborate significant gender differences in math performance and perceived math ability during childhood. Even after conditioning on a given math test performance level, girls significantly report lower levels of perceived math ability than boys. Finally, all three factors, math achievement, perceived math ability, and parental occupation in STEM, are significant predictors of the probability of majoring in a STEM field in college. The estimated effects of high levels of math achievement and perceived math ability are higher for boys than for girls. In contrast, most of the observed positive effects of having a parent in a STEM occupation seems to be concentrated among females. This result suggests the potential importance that parental role modeling effects or parental investments in STEM could have for encouraging women participation in STEM fields.

Authors

• Lina Maria Anaya Beltran, University of Arkansas

• Frank P. Stafford, University of Michigan

• Gema Zamarro, University of Arkansas