Sex Differences in Career Guidance of Undergraduate Math Students and the Relation to Help-Seeking Behaviors

• In Event: Gender and the STEM Fields

Abstract

Males continue to dominate math-related areas in graduate school and employment (U.S. Department of Education, 2010; U.S. Department of Labor, 2012), possibly due to the differential guidance that they receive as students. In the present study, 180 undergraduates completed an online survey on the career and graduate school guidance they received from math professors. Student sex, professor sex, and help-seeking behaviors were also considered. Males, especially those with high instrumental help-seeking, reported higher levels of career guidance, regardless of their GPA, major, or year in school. Moreover, male students with male math professors received greater levels of career guidance than all other student-professor dyads. The differential career guidance may contribute to the pervasive sex gap within the math field.

Authors

• Lauren A Blondeau, The University of Texas - Austin

• Germine Awad, The University of Texas - Austin