Factors Associated with Female Chemist Doctoral Career Choice within the Physical Sciences

Abstract

Research shows that women are entering the field of physics at a faster rate than the field of chemistry through bachelor's and doctoral degrees. However, STEM studies primarily compare women to men or examine them as a single entity. Therefore, a paucity of research exists that examines what may differentiate women in certain critical and underrepresented fields of STEM education, such as the physical sciences. The focus of this study is to examine differences among women in chemistry in the physical sciences based on background demographics and motivational factors such as academic achievement and experiences ranging from secondary through postsecondary education. This study examines the following research question: On average, do females who select chemistry as compared to physics doctoral programs dif fer in their reported personal motivations and background factors prior to entering the f ield? This question is analyzed using variables in a logistic regression from the Project Crossover Survey data set through a subset of female physical science doctoral students and scientists (n = 1137). Results show that females who have higher secondary and postsecondary grades and positive experiences in postsecondary chemistry as well as negative postsecondary physics experiences are more likely to enter the field of chemistry as opposed to physics. Therefore, success and experiences in entry-level chemistry courses are critical for female entry into the field and should be further examined. Overall, analyses show that women should not be studied in comparison only to men or as a single entity; they should also be compared to one another to uncover what motivation and background variables influence them to enter a particular field.

Catalysts of Women’s Talent Development in STEM: A Systematic Review

“…STEM-talented women are similar to STEM-talented men in age of first publication, age at which STEM talent was first recognized, and age of PhD; however, women publish less frequently than men and women’s publications are less likely to be cited by peers (Feist, 2006). In general, women who are exceptionally talented in STEM tend to be first- or second-generation Americans (Feist, 2006) with parents who hold a bachelor’s degree or less (Dabney & Tai, 2014). However, parents of women of color complete education beyond the bachelor’s degree (Gavin, 1996).…”

Sense of belonging within the graduate community of a research-focused STEM department: Quantitative assessment using a visual narrative and item response theory

“…Institutions are currently working toward building and maintaining a larger, more diverse community of scientists. However, many of these efforts rely on aggregate, national data regarding underrepresentation of women and URMs to guide their course of action [48,73,74]. In addition, the majority of administrative efforts to foster academic belonging focus exclusively on undergraduate populations, even though graduate students constitute a large percentage of university campuses [46].…”

The Status of Women in STEM in Higher Education: A Review of the Literature 2007–2017

“…She may be the only woman in the class or one of a handful in the department and may have to acclimate to a traditionally masculine culture (Baxter 2010) or pay a femininity penalty (Simon, Wagner, and Killion 2017). Introductory classes purposefully designed to weed out students are more harmful to URM and women (Dabney and Tai 2014;Mervis 2011), andShedlosky-Shoemaker andFautch (2015) found women who felt demoralized in a competitive environment were more likely to switch majors. Even a syllabus, the first document a student encounters in the classroom which sets the tone for the course, can include gendered themes such as normalizing masculinity while disenfranchising other gendered identities (Bejerano and Bartosh 2015;Parson 2016a).…”