Multiple studies from the literature suggest that a high proportion of women on scientific teams contributes to successful team collaboration, but how the proportion of women impacts team success and why this is the case, is not well understood. One perspective suggests that having a high proportion of women matters because women tend to have greater social sensitivity and promote even turn-taking in meetings. Other studies have found women are more likely to collaborate and are more democratic. Both explanations suggest that women team members fundamentally change team functioning through the way they interact. Yet, most previous studies of gender on scientific teams have relied heavily on bibliometric data, which focuses on the prevalence of women team members rather than how they act and interact throughout the scientific process. In this study, we explore gender diversity in scientific teams using various types of relational data to investigate how women impact team interactions. This study focuses on 12 interdisciplinary university scientific teams that were part of an institutional team science program from 2015 to 2020 aimed at cultivating, integrating, and translating scientific expertise. The program included multiple forms of evaluation, including participant observation, focus groups, interviews, and surveys at multiple time points. Using social network analysis, this article tested five hypotheses about the role of women on university-based scientific teams. The hypotheses were based on three premises previously established in the literature. Our analyses revealed that only one of the five hypotheses regarding gender roles on teams was supported by our data. These findings suggest that scientific teams may create ingroups, when an underrepresented identity is included instead of excluded in the outgroup, for women in academia. This finding does not align with the current paradigm and the research on the impact of gender diversity on teams. Future research to determine if high-functioning scientific teams disrupt rather than reproduce existing hierarchies and gendered patterns of interactions could create an opportunity to accelerate the advancement of knowledge while promoting a just and equitable culture and profession.
The Rocky Mountain Scholars Program (RMSP) was developed, in part, to improve student success and persistence in Engineering disciplines at Colorado State Universi-ty through a portfolio of engagement activities focused around undergraduate research experiences. Female RMSP participants exhibited substantially higher retention rates and grade point averages relative to other female engineering students at CSU. To better understand the impact of the RMSP, and its effectiveness among female engi-neering students, researchers focused on whether, and how, experiences and percep-tions differ between male and female students in engineering programs. That is, how do male and female students differ, if at all, in their subjective perception of life as an engineering major at CSU? A survey was developed measuring resilience, self-efficacy, motivation, social support, academic support, and perceived sexism. Data was obtained from 144 first-year engineering students at CSU. Results indicated that social support from extracurricular activities is particularly important among female students. This points to an increasing need for programs like the RMSP to create social networks among students and faculty, link students to the broader impacts of their work, and ultimately improve the undergraduate experience of under-represented groups in STEM programs.
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