Strategic Self-Presentation of Women in STEM

Abstract

Despite a plethora of initiatives and a surge of research activity, women remain under-represented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines (National Science Foundation 2017). While much research has focused on ways to recruit women into these disciplines, less work has explored the strategies women use to navigate these contexts once they have entered. In a set of two experimental studies, we investigate women's potential response strategies to the well-documented tension between female and STEM attributes in terms of individual self-presentation. In Study 1 (N = 240), we examine whether female STEM professionals have different impression goals when introducing themselves to professional peers versus a group of other women. In Study 2 (N = 169), we extend our inquiry to include self-presentation behavior as well as intentions. Across studies, we find that female STEM professionals hold different impression goals based on the audience with whom and context in which they expect to interact. These intentions align with actual self-introduction behavior, as observed in written self-introductions. Tuning one's self-presentation, however, leads participants to feel less authentic. This work highlights one way women in male-dominated STEM contexts may navigate and strategically communicate their female and STEM identities to others, as well as the personal implications of doing so.

Microinclusions: Treating women as respected work partners increases a sense of fit in technology companies.

“…And she may have felt the press of negative stereotypes in taking a difficult math or technical test, aware that a poor score could confirm a negative stereotype in the minds of other people about women’s abilities (Spencer et al, 1999). These concerns may be compounded by artifacts the woman sees in technology settings that imply that the typical technology worker is a geeky man (Cheryan et al, 2009), implying that she may need to hide aspects of her gender identity (Garr-Schultz & Gardner, 2018; Pronin et al, 2004) or otherwise contort herself to fit a masculine default to be taken seriously (Cheryan & Markus, 2020).…”

#WomenInSTEM: exploring self-presentation of identity on Instagram

“…However, there is a dearth of research on the influence of both traditional and social media experiences on STEM identity development [see Steinke, 2017]. In addition, social media may be a site where content creators who identify as women in STEM actively negotiate their gender identity and STEM identity when they perceive conflict [Settles, 2004] and tension [Garr-Schultz & Gardner, 2018] between two social identities that are linked to traditional gender-STEM stereotypes. In fact, recent research has emphasized that visual narratives crafted by women in STEM on social media can be powerful in challenging outdated, sexist assumptions and attitudes about women in STEM [Wells, 2023] as well as crucial for advocating for social change in STEM [Yammine et al, 2018].…”

Ice Detection on Aircraft Surface Using Machine Learning Approaches Based on Hyperspectral and Multispectral Images

“…In this context, UAV (uncrewed aerial vehicle) [12] imagery combined with machine learning algorithms has shown excellent potential for rapid, remote, cost-effective detection tasks. This approach allows ice identification from multiple views with an automatic check-up operation.…”