Differences in Men and Women Scientists' Perceptions of Workplace Climate

Gunter, Ramona; Stambach, Amy

doi:10.1615/jwomenminorscieneng.v11.i1.60

Cited by 42 publications

(28 citation statements)

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“…Gender microaggressions may be delivered by well meaning others, what Glick and Fiske (1996) call benevolent sexism, i.e., attitudes that reflect gender stereotyping but are conveyed in a considerate and helping manner. In workplace settings where women are in the minority they report experiencing explicit or subtle discrimination more than their male coworkers (Gunter and Stambach 2005). Women are more likely to notice these offenses than men (Schumann and Ross 2010) and are aware of the negative impact on well-being and work performance (Basford et al 2014).…”

Section: Microaggressionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gunter and Stambach (2005) characterize university science departments as masculine cultures based on the interpersonal interactions typical of masculine norms, situated in a setting that promotes a "detached" "rational" approach to knowledge. Women entering historically male-dominated STEM fields face persistent stereotypes that foster marginalization and may trigger fears of negative social comparison due to gender (Good et al 2012;Kiefer and Sekaquaptewa 2007;Logel et al 2009;Smyth and Nosek 2015;Walton et al 2015).…”

Section: The Gendered Culture Of Stem Graduate Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Participants described incidents where they were overlooked for training or their efforts were used to help others, but since there were few women to turn to for validation or support, their concerns were not acknowledged as important. The preponderance of men made for masculine cultural and behavioral norms in STEM academic settings, such as a more self-promotional and aggressive style of communicating, way of dressing, and focus on objectivity and activities already considered masculine such as technology (Ferreira 2003a;Gunter and Stambach 2005;Wolfe 2012), that could leave women feeling isolated, alienated, lonely and different.…”

Section: Too Few Womenmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Chilly Climates, Balancing Acts, and Shifting Pathways: What Happens to Women in STEM Doctoral Programs

Cabay¹,

Bernstein

Rivers

et al. 2018

Social Sciences

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Women in doctoral programs in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) leave without finishing at higher rates than men and, as with men, turn away from academic and research careers. This qualitative study examines the day-to-day influences on female doctoral students during their third or fourth year in physical science and engineering programs. Ethnographic cognitive interviewing and online incident reports document the specific experiences and reactions of 28 participants over a six-month period. The data were analyzed to identify key incidents, categories and recurring themes. Some incidents contributed to women's growing sense of competence, recognition and identification of oneself as a scientist. Others fit a model of microaggressions and gender barriers in a predominantly masculine culture. Problems of work-life balance were demonstrated for some women. Incidents generated responses by some participants that they would disengage from a research-intensive career trajectory toward alternate career interests outside of academic research. The findings provide information about the lived experiences of women in doctoral programs and suggest that the metaphor of career pathways may be more useful than pipelines in explaining the direction of women who are advanced doctoral students in research-intensive fields.Keywords: women; graduate students; science and engineering; STEM; gender inequity Gaps between men and women persist in the pursuit and outcomes of degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) (Shauman 2017; Turk-Bicakci and Berger 2014). In the life and social sciences, women have closed the gap in undergraduate majors and admission to graduate programs and now exceed men in completion of doctoral programs (National Science Foundation 2017). Yet women are awarded fewer than 25% of the doctoral degrees in the physical sciences and engineering, and hold disproportionately fewer tenured faculty positions in STEM and far fewer positions of prestige and power (Bernstein 2011;Handelsman et al. 2005;Fox 2001; National Science Foundation 2017).The "leaky pipeline" metaphor commonly refers to the disproportionate exit of women from STEM at transitions from one educational or career level to another, the consequence of which is fewer and fewer women remaining in the "pool" for subsequent advancement in STEM ). The pipeline metaphor relies on a somewhat linear conception of careers with certain specified outcomes, such as moving from an undergraduate major in STEM, through PhD degrees and postdocs, to faculty positions, to tenure, and eventually to full rank in research universities. Previous research on why women leave STEM fields at a greater rate than their male counterparts has examined the motivation of women to pursue STEM undergraduate degrees (Beyer 2014;Griffith 2010;Grunert and Bobnerb 2011;London et al.

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Section: Microaggressionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Gendered Culture Of Stem Graduate Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Too Few Womenmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Chilly Climates, Balancing Acts, and Shifting Pathways: What Happens to Women in STEM Doctoral Programs

Cabay¹,

Bernstein

Rivers

et al. 2018

Social Sciences

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“…The increased representation of women could also have the long-term effect of diversifying leadership in STEM jobs, and expanding women's access to mentoring and leadership positions (Preston 2004;Stephan and Levin 2005). In fact, among the most widely cited impediments to greater diversification of the STEM labor force are perceptions of being isolated, reported by many women who are employed in fields, such as engineering and computer science, where their representation is the smallest (Fouad et al 2011;Gunter and Stambach 2005;Kanter 1977;Michelmore and Sassler 2016). Others attribute the dearth of women in some STEM fields, and disparities in wages, to discrimination, though the evidence suggests that discrimination has diminished as a contributor to the gender earnings gap, if not to the employment gap in particular fields (Mandel and Semyonov 2014;Michelmore and Sassler 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Tale of Two Majors: Explaining the Gender Gap in STEM Employment among Computer Science and Engineering Degree Holders

2017

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Abstract:We examine factors contributing to the gender gap in employment in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) among men and women with bachelor's degrees in computer science and engineering, the two largest and most male-dominated STEM fields. Data come from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System (SESTAT) from 1995 to 2008. Different factors are associated with persistence in STEM jobs among computer science and engineering degree holders. Conditional on receiving a degree in computer science, women are 14 percentage points less likely to work in STEM than their male counterparts. Controlling for demographic and family characteristics did little to change this gender gap. Women with degrees in engineering are approximately 8 percentage points less likely to work in STEM than men, although about half of this gap is explained by observed differences between men and women. We document a widening gender gap in STEM employment in computer science, but this gender gap narrows across college cohorts among those with degrees in engineering. Among recent computer science graduates, the gender gap in STEM employment for white, Hispanic, and black women relative to white men is even larger than for older graduates. Gender and race gaps in STEM employment for recent cohorts of engineering graduates are generally small, though younger Asian women and men no longer have an employment advantage relative to white men. Our results suggest that a one-size-fits-all approach to increasing women's representation in the most male-dominated STEM fields may not work.

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“…Whereas the chilly climate endured by women in engineering has yielded a number of studies documenting their uncomfortable position in a conservative male bastion that can serve to reduce their commitment to engineering despite their greater persistence [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] , commensurate attention to the adjustment of underrepresented minorities is still to be attained. Lewis 16 has also lamented the small number of empirical reports for minorities in science and engineering.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Success Factors for Minorities in Engineering: Analysis of Focus Group Mini-Surveys

Fleming¹

2016 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

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Focus group conversations were previously reported for minority students from eleven engineering schools.1 This study describes the analysis of a mini-survey administered during the focus group sessions in order to augment group discussions which can be dominated by strong personalities thereby skewing the results. One hundred and forty-four students, comprised of 51.4% African American, 36.8% Hispanic, and11.8% of Other ethnicities, completed three openended questions on: how they became interested in engineering; what it takes to be successful in the engineering program; and their advice to incoming minority students. A fourth question asked for their assessment of the effectiveness of seven academic support program components. Major student responses were coded for thematic content or tabulated and then entered into regression equations against four measures of achievement, including students' GPA, longevity in the program, average SAT/ACT scores of minority students in the school of matriculation, and their school's effectiveness in graduating minority students as assessed by 6-year graduation rates. Responses positively associated with achievement indices were then factor analyzed to isolate common clusters associated with success in engineering. While the most frequent student responses to the four questions were skill in math, dedication, focus, and study groups respectively, the five emerging factors associated with greater student success were: (1) Participation in effective program components that provide practical engineering experience --project or problem-based courses, research experience, and industry internships; (2) A burning desire to become an engineer and reap its economic benefits; (3) Taking advantage of all resources provided; (4) Combining motivation and dedication with effective time management; and (5) Involvement in MEP programs. The results are noteworthy in suggesting that the first and foremost success factor for minorities in engineering is exposure to engineering itself.

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Differences in Men and Women Scientists' Perceptions of Workplace Climate

Cited by 42 publications

References 0 publications

Chilly Climates, Balancing Acts, and Shifting Pathways: What Happens to Women in STEM Doctoral Programs

Chilly Climates, Balancing Acts, and Shifting Pathways: What Happens to Women in STEM Doctoral Programs

A Tale of Two Majors: Explaining the Gender Gap in STEM Employment among Computer Science and Engineering Degree Holders

Success Factors for Minorities in Engineering: Analysis of Focus Group Mini-Surveys

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