Gender gap in STEM education and career choices: what matters?

Abstract

PurposeThe paper innovates on the existing literature by assessing the gender gap in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) tertiary education enrolment and career choice in a small country setting and by extending on Master and Meltzoff (2016) theoretical framework to provide a holistic explanation of the gender disparity through a mix of personal, environmental and behavioural factors. The study first probes into the existence of potential gender disparity in STEM tertiary enrolment in Mauritius. Second, in contrast with existing studies where selective factors are used to measure the gender gap in STEM education, this paper investigates into a combination of personal, environmental and behavioural factors that may influence participation in STEM education and career.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a survey of 209 undergraduates enroled in the main public university and investigates into the existence of a gender gap in STEM tertiary education enrolment and the reasons behind this disparity. Consistent with the theoretical model, the empirical analysis also investigates into the work environment (which cannot be measured from the survey), via semi-structured interviews of 15 women in STEM professions.FindingsThe logit regression results first reveal the existence of a gender disparity in the choice of STEM-related degrees. The probability of a female student to enrol in a STEM degree is lower than that of a male student, after controlling for all the personal, environmental and behavioural factors. The most important set of reasons influencing the student's STEM degree choice are self-efficacy and the student's academic performance in STEM subjects at secondary school level. The findings also demonstrate that young women are relatively more likely to choose STEM degrees than their male counterparts when they are supported by their family, school and teachers. There is further evidence of lower participation of women in STEM professions as well as significant challenges which women in STEM careers face compared to their male colleagues.Originality/valueThis study adopts a holistic framework to assess the factors that hinder women's participation in STEM tertiary education and career in Mauritius.

STEM-Gender Stereotypes: Associations With School Empowerment and School Engagement Among Italian and Nigerian Adolescents

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Using social media advertisement data to monitor the gender gap in STEM: opportunities and challenges

“…Other studies applied pre-post surveys to evaluate different kinds of programs that aim to increase females’ interest in and enthusiasm for science through ( Levine et al, 2015 ; Levine & DiScenza, 2018 ). Other researchers conducted interviews with women in STEM professions to capture the low participation of women in STEM professions along with the challenges they face in their working environment ( Tandrayen-Ragoobur & Gokulsing, 2021 ).…”

Assessing the role of gender in hiring: a field experiment on labour market discrimination

“…This concept of occupational segregation has been a challenge for Malta for several years, as cited in Borg and Vella’s ( 2007 ) report for Malta’s public employment services. However, Table 1 recognises that there is more male domination in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), which according to Tandrayen-Ragoobur, and Gokulsing ( 2021 ) is due to students’ academic performance in STEM subjects at the secondary school level, while females lead in what economists call pink-collared jobs, such as teaching and nursing (Kalokerinos et al 2017 ). Literature is divided about this concept; on the one hand, Albert et al ( 2011 ), for instance, state that there is discrimination against males in female-dominant areas, while other studies, such as that by Riach and Rich ( 2006 ), imply that there is discrimination against females in male-dominant areas.…”