Gender, Hierarchy, and Science

Fox, Mary Frank

doi:10.1007/0-387-36218-5_20

Cited by 45 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…It is notable because individuals with graduate STEM degrees command among the highest earnings and experience the lowest rates of unemployment in the US (Langdon, McKittrick, Beede, Khan, & Doms, ; Zolas et al, ) and those who hold STEM doctorates occupy positions of power that shape the current and future fate of societies (Fox, ). Thus, achieving equitable racial diversity among STEM doctoral earners may play a role in closing the historical economic gaps between Black, Latinx, and American Native communities and White communities in the US (Ladson‐Billings, ; Melguizo & Wolniak, ; Shapiro, Meschede, & Osoro, ).…”

Section: A Critical Race Theory Framework To Reframe the Urgent Callsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a critical theory of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics doctoral persistence: Critical capital theory

Bancroft

2018

Science Education

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The proportion of Black, Latinx, and American Native individuals annually earning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) doctoral degrees in the United States (US) has been enduringly and inequitably low for decades compared to their White peers. Despite the intransigent connection between race and STEM doctoral outcomes, US STEM education policy documents typically fail to identify racism as influencing this racial inequity. This paper presents critical capital theory (CCT)—an integration of critical race theory, forms of capital, and fictive kinship—to give racism full explanatory power within the context of US STEM doctoral outcomes. CCT proposes that access to large and affluent social networks containing supportive individuals who have knowledge of how to successfully navigate institutions of power is currently core to STEM doctoral success. This access reinforces STEM identity and belonging, but has been and continues to be primarily preserved for White students via an ever‐evolving system of racism. CCT proposes systems supporting STEM faculty’s consistent provision of high‐quality mentorship experiences for all their students—coupled with accountability for providing this mentorship—would result in more equitable STEM doctoral outcomes.

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Section: A Critical Race Theory Framework To Reframe the Urgent Callsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a critical theory of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics doctoral persistence: Critical capital theory

Bancroft

2018

Science Education

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“…In current societies, science is an agent of power and it is connected with the most influential institutions, that is, the state and education (Fox, 2006). Thus, gender stratifications in science ultimately have the potential to legitimize unequal relationships between genders within society at large (Fox, 2006). Our findings suggest that challenging gender stratification in STEM fields is crucial both because of L. Di Bella and R.J.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…Specifically, the unequal representation of men and women across different education and employment fields (e.g., women being overrepresented in nursing careers and underrepresented in STEM fields) excludes women from male-dominated careers, and supports and encourages endorsement of gender role stereotypes. In current societies, science is an agent of power and it is connected with the most influential institutions, that is, the state and education (Fox, 2006). Thus, gender stratifications in science ultimately have the potential to legitimize unequal relationships between genders within society at large (Fox, 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imagining oneself in a stereotyped role may stifle generalized tendencies to support social change

Bella

Crisp

2015

Social Influence

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“…and Sean attempt to elevate women by suggesting they are smart to avoid ‘boring stuff’ such as working with computers and code. Yet, in the hierarchy of STEM sub‐fields, biology and chemistry are seen as lower in terms of prestige and perceived difficulty (Fox, ). As more women enter STEM, they are concentrated in lower status sub‐fields, which are also less lucrative positions.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Framing the Faculty Gender Gap: A View from STEM Doctoral Students

Hughes¹,

Schilt²,

Gorman³

et al. 2017

Gender, Work & Organization

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Drawing on 48 interviews with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) doctoral students at a private research university in the United States (US), we examine how students make sense of the preponderance of men at the faculty level despite increasing gender parity among students. Students' primary explanatory frame, historical bias, suggests that the gender gap will disappear when enough women attain their doctorates (PhDs). Competing frames include innate and constructed gender difference and the perceived incompatibility between a woman's body clock and an academic tenure clock. We argue that the frames that students use to explain the gender gap shed light on the cultural context of STEM, which is characterized by a tension between the belief in a meritocratic system and the acknowledgement of structural inequality. We suggest that men and women's preference for explanations that preclude bias, in light of women students' own experiences with sexism in graduate school, contributes to the reproduction of inequality by rendering invisible structural barriers to gender equality.

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Gender, Hierarchy, and Science

Cited by 45 publications

References 24 publications

Toward a critical theory of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics doctoral persistence: Critical capital theory

Toward a critical theory of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics doctoral persistence: Critical capital theory

Imagining oneself in a stereotyped role may stifle generalized tendencies to support social change

Framing the Faculty Gender Gap: A View from STEM Doctoral Students

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