Pipeline Dreams: Occupational Plans and Gender Differences in STEM Major Persistence and Completion

Abstract

In the United States, women are more likely than men to enter and complete college, but they remain underrepresented among baccalaureates in science-related majors. We show that in a cohort of college entrants who graduated from high school in 2004, men were more than twice as likely as women to complete baccalaureate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, including premed fields, and more likely to persist in STEM/biomed after entering these majors by sophomore year. Conversely, women were more than twice as likely as men to earn baccalaureates in a health field, although persistence in health was low for both genders. We show that gender gaps in high school academic achievement, self-assessed math ability, and family-work orientation are only weakly associated with gender gaps in STEM completion and persistence. Gender differences in occupational plans, by contrast, are strongly associated with gender gaps in STEM outcomes, even in models that assume plans are endogenous to academic achievement, self-assessed math ability, and family-work orientation. These results can inform efforts to mitigate gender gaps in STEM attainment.

Higher education and science popularization: Can they achieve coordinated growth?

“…Negatively speaking, science popularization hinders higher education development or competitiveness to some degree. Firstly, science popularization increases gender inequality in higher education systems; it is found that science popularization has different impacts on different genders, and female students are less interested in science popularization activities than male students so that gender imbalance caused by science popularization may occur and higher education competitiveness, which requires gender equality, is likely to decline [ 10 , 34 , 35 ]. Secondly, lacking sufficient focus on science popularization is likely to decrease higher education competitiveness; science popularization activities are good opportunities for students to learn new skills or knowledge, and lacking enough related activities reduces studying chances and competitiveness of college students, which in turn reduces higher education competitiveness [ 36 ].…”

College Enrollment and STEM Major Choice in a Rural State

“…For first-generation college students, female students are less likely to choose male-dominated majors (Wright, 2019) and to persist in STEM major completion (Mau, 2016). Weeden et al (2020) used a national longitudinal data set and found substantial gender differences in STEM major completion. Specifically, among 2004 high school graduates who enrolled in college in the following fall, 18% of male graduates majored in the STEM/biomed field compared to 7.9% of female graduates.…”

Increasing Diversity in Radiology and Molecular Imaging: Current Challenges

“…Researchers have proposed multiple factors that may affect the attrition of women in STEM, such as a lack of women role models [ 51 ]. However, a more insidious and deep-rooted problem seems to be gender-based stereotypes.…”

“…Among primary school children, the differences in perceived competencies in STEM are negligible [ 52 ]. Yet, as girls mature, the perceived gender differences in science acuity increase such that most girls have self-selected out of STEM careers by the time they leave high school [ 48 , 51 ]. Reshma Saujani, who founded a charitable organization called “Girls Who Code,” believes that “women have been socialized to aspire to perfection and as a result are overly cautious,” resulting in a fear of failure, which dampens their questioning nature and prevents a sense of fulfillment in STEM careers [ 53 ].…”