The Effect of Role Models on the Attitudes and Career Choices of Female Students Enrolled in High School Science

Abstract

Girls who have high aptitude in math are not entering careers related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM fields) at the same rate as boys. As a result, female students may have fewer employment opportunities. This study explores one potential way to reduce the gap between male and female career aspirations and choices.Specifically, it looks at the impact of bringing women with careers in math-and sciencerelated fields into high school classrooms as role models. The study uses surveys to measure pre-and post-visit perceptions of science and scientific work as well as student's short-term interest in math and science courses. In addition to these surveys, student comments were collected about the role model visits. While the overall study yielded little statistical significance, it also indicated that the role model visits had some impact on student perceptions and choices and raised questions that warrant further ii