The Gender-Equality Paradox in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education

Abstract

The underrepresentation of girls and women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is a continual concern for social scientists and policymakers. Using an international database on adolescent achievement in science, mathematics, and reading ( N = 472,242), we showed that girls performed similarly to or better than boys in science in two of every three countries, and in nearly all countries, more girls appeared capable of college-level STEM study than had enrolled. Paradoxically, the sex differences in the magnitude of relative academic strengths and pursuit of STEM degrees rose with increases in national gender equality. The gap between boys' science achievement and girls' reading achievement relative to their mean academic performance was near universal. These sex differences in academic strengths and attitudes toward science correlated with the STEM graduation gap. A mediation analysis suggested that life-quality pressures in less gender-equal countries promote girls' and women's engagement with STEM subjects.

Patterns of authorship in ecology and evolution: First, last, and corresponding authorship vary with gender and geography

“…It seems intuitive that women are more likely to be authors on papers submitted from countries that are more gender equal in rights and opportunities. However, this is counter the observation that women tend to be better represented among STEM graduates in less gender equal countries (Stoet & Geary, ), possibly because they have fewer career opportunities outside academia in less gender equal societies, and that the representation of women among scientists (across all fields) is uncorrelated among countries with the United Nations gender equality index (Wagner, ). One explanation for this inconsistency between geographic patterns in female representation in our authorship data for ecology journals and geographic patterns in STEM and science authorship more generally may be that ecologists (and other life scientists) require lower quantitative skills and, in the United States, require lower quantitative scores on graduate school entrance exams (Ceci, Ginther, Kahn, & Williams, ), than do other sciences.…”

“…One explanation for this inconsistency between geographic patterns in female representation in our authorship data for ecology journals and geographic patterns in STEM and science authorship more generally may be that ecologists (and other life scientists) require lower quantitative skills and, in the United States, require lower quantitative scores on graduate school entrance exams (Ceci, Ginther, Kahn, & Williams, ), than do other sciences. It is in mathematics that the gender disparity in performance and anxiety covaries most negatively among countries with gender equality (Stoet, Bailey, Moore, & Geary, ), whereas women generally exceed men in reading comprehension, and the degree to which women exceed men in reading comprehension is greatest in more gender equal countries (Stoet & Geary, ). These gender differences in math and reading performance (and anxiety) likely contribute to explaining why women are much better represented in the life sciences than in other STEM fields (Ceci et al, ; Wagner, ), and could explain why we see female representation among authors in ecology increasing with gender equality in their home countries, unlike the patterns observed for STEM programs more broadly.…”

Family and the field: Expectations of a field-based research career affect researcher family planning decisions

“…Since Marie Curie won a Nobel Prize in 1903, only 17 other women have received the award in the areas of physics, chemistry, or medicine compared to 572 men, and only 28% of the world’s researchers are women [43]. Analysis of adolescent achievement in STEM careers internationally indicates higher performance among girls than boys in two-thirds of sampled countries but an inverse relationship between “national gender equality” and pursuit of STEM degrees by women [44]. Our research supports that this difference may be driven in part by hidden barriers associated with a mismatch between family and career expectations that may result in the reduction of qualified individuals from research fields.…”

Online Mentoring for Talented Girls in STEM: The Role of Relationship Quality and Changes in Learning Environments in Explaining Mentoring Success

“…The low participation rates of girls and women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) remain a critical issue for social scientists, educationalists, business associations, and politicians. Although international comparative studies of educational achievement indicate that girls in many countries now achieve on par with or even outperform boys in mathematics and the natural sciences (Stoet & Geary, ), women remain underrepresented in many degree programs and occupations in STEM. Numerous studies have explored the reasons behind these different participation rates (Kelly, ; Wang, ; Wang & Degol, ).…”