The Social Pipeline: How Friend Influence and Peer Exposure Widen the STEM Gender Gap

Raabe, Isabel J.; Boda, Zsófia; Stadtfeld, Christoph

doi:10.1177/0038040718824095

Cited by 123 publications

(122 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…For instance, in course transcript data from the Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement Study (AHAA), high school female students were more likely to take more advanced level math courses in the year after being enrolled in a course with other same-sex peers who have taken higher level math coursework (Frank et al, 2008). In the Swedish subset of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU), students’ favorite subjects were influenced by friends’ preferences (friend influence) and classroom peers’ preferences (peer exposure; Raabe et al, 2019). Specifically, exposure to female classmates who have a STEM-favorite subject has a strong positive effect on girls’ individual STEM preferences (Raabe et al, 2019).…”

Section: Social Capital Benefits Stem Education: Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Swedish subset of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU), students’ favorite subjects were influenced by friends’ preferences (friend influence) and classroom peers’ preferences (peer exposure; Raabe et al, 2019). Specifically, exposure to female classmates who have a STEM-favorite subject has a strong positive effect on girls’ individual STEM preferences (Raabe et al, 2019).…”

Section: Social Capital Benefits Stem Education: Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

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Leveraging Social Capital to Broaden Participation in STEM

Saw

2020

Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences

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Broadening participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is critical to the nation’s economic growth and national security. In K–12 and higher education, researchers and educators increasingly employ the concept of social capital to develop programs for improving STEM learning, motivation, and participation of young students. STEM social capital in education comprises STEM-oriented resources—whether instrumental, informational, or emotional—that students access through their social networks. Major theoretical perspectives, research evidence, and promising practices are associated with the concepts of social capital in STEM education. Students’ social capital in STEM education (derived from families, peers, teachers, and professional networks) demonstrably promotes their STEM educational outcomes and career paths. Inclusive STEM schools, mentoring, and after-school programs are some promising approaches that can enhance STEM social capital and outcomes of underrepresented students, particularly women, Blacks/Hispanics/Native Americans, youth with low socioeconomic status, and persons with disabilities.

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Section: Social Capital Benefits Stem Education: Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Social Capital Benefits Stem Education: Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

Leveraging Social Capital to Broaden Participation in STEM

Saw

2020

Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences

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“…Friendships made during the years of education have an exceptional effect on students, which they may carry on to adulthood. From early primary school to university, peer relations have been linked to students' psychological well-being 6 , health-related behavior 7,8 , bullying and negative ties 9,10 , peer perceptions 11,12 , academic subject preferences 13,14 , and academic success or failure 15,16 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-term and long-term effects of a social network intervention on friendships among university students

Boda

Elmer²,

Vörös

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Informal social relations, such as friendships, are crucial for the well-being and success of students at all levels of education. Network interventions can aim at providing contact opportunities in school settings to prevent the social isolation of individuals and facilitate integration between otherwise segregated social groups. We investigate the short-term and long-term effects of one specific network intervention in an undergraduate cohort freshly admitted to an engineering department (N = 226). In this intervention, we randomly assigned students into small groups at an introduction event two months prior to their first day at university. The groups were designed to increase mixed-gender contact opportunities. Two months after the intervention, we find a higher rate of friendships, common friends, and mixed-gender friendships in pairs of students who were assigned to the same group than in pairs from different groups (short-term effects). These effects gradually diminish over the first academic year (long-term effects). Using stochastic actor-oriented models, we investigate the long-term trajectory of the intervention effects, while considering alternative network processes, such as reciprocity, transitivity, homophily, and popularity. The results suggest that even though the induced friendship ties are less stable than other friendships, they may serve as early seeds for complex social network processes. Our study shows that simple network interventions can have a pronounced short-term effect and indirect long-term effects on the evolution and structure of student communities.

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“…More generally, empirical evidence suggests that parents and peers affect the educational and occupational aspirations of youth (Sewell et al, 1970;Morgan, 1998;Bozick et al, 2010). Studies have shown that students adjust their STEM-preferences in high school to those of their friends (Raabe et al, 2019).…”

Section: State Of Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Student attrition in gender atypical fields of study. A matter of lacking social integration or pressure from significant others?

Jusri¹

2019

Preprint

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In most European countries, the choice of college majors is highly segregated by gender. Only a small amount of students enrolls in a gender atypical major. Previous studies indicated that these students may have a higher attrition rate than their counterparts in gender typical majors. In this paper, I investigated whether this higher attrition rate is caused by lower levels of social integration and pressure from significant others. I built a synthesis of Tinto’s model of student drop out and Kanter’s theory of tokenism and drew on theories of comparative reference groups to test these hypotheses. Using data from the German National Educational Panel Study, which follows undergraduate students who enrolled in 2010, I conducted discrete time survival analysis. I found that men and women in gender atypical majors have a higher risk to switch to a more gender balanced major and – only for women - to drop out than students in gender typical majors. Low levels of social integration and disapproval of the major by significant others increase the attrition risk. However, these two aspects do not contribute to the explanation of the higher attrition risk of students in gender atypical majors. Alternative explanations are discussed.

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The Social Pipeline: How Friend Influence and Peer Exposure Widen the STEM Gender Gap

Cited by 123 publications

References 81 publications

Leveraging Social Capital to Broaden Participation in STEM

Leveraging Social Capital to Broaden Participation in STEM

Short-term and long-term effects of a social network intervention on friendships among university students

Student attrition in gender atypical fields of study. A matter of lacking social integration or pressure from significant others?

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