The STEM Graduate: Immediately after Graduation, Men and Women Already Differ in Job Outcomes, Attributions for Success, and Desired Job Characteristics

Abstract

We examined the job outcomes of men and women who recently graduated from the same STEM majors in Poland (N = 8,082). The results demonstrated that women experienced more difficulties in finding a job, received fewer job offers, were less likely to find a job consistent with their education, and earned less money than men. Additionally, we examined the attributions that men and women made for their professional success and the characteristics that they sought in potential jobs. In comparison to men, women were less likely to attribute their success to stereotypically male characteristics and more likely to attribute their * Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Katarzyna Jasko, In

Mind the gender gap: the impact of university education on the entrepreneurial entry of female and male STEM graduates

“…As doing internships helps recent graduates in finding the first jobs, it increases the opportunity costs associated to entrepreneurial entry. Such increase is probably greater for women, who tend to be discriminated in the labor market (Jasko et al, 2020) and thus usually have low opportunity costs.…”

“…Hence, doing an internship increases also the opportunity costs of entrepreneurial entry, given by graduates' lost wages as salaried employees. This effect should be particularly relevant for women, who tend to suffer from job segregation in STEM fields (Jasko et al, 2020) and thus may benefit more from internships. Therefore, doing an internship probably increases the opportunity costs of female STEM graduates more than those of their male counterparts.…”

Gender Stereotypes and Expected Backlash for Female STEM Students in Germany and Japan

“…The current research shows that even for these participants, who are highly invested in pursuing a STEM major and potential career, expected negative social reactions can have detrimental consequences for their emotions and motivation. Paired with the widespread gender stereotypes, these consequences can further aggravate gender segregation in STEM, as the leaky pipeline shows that female STEM students are often less inclined to pursue a STEM career than their male counterparts (e.g., Diekman et al, 2017;Jasko et al, 2020).…”

Riding the Wave: Reactive Vector-Borne Disease Policy Renders the United States Vulnerable to Outbreaks and Insecticide Resistance

“…Addressing this unequal access to higher education requires acknowledgment of and efforts to combat the driving forces of cultural, structural, and institutional barriers within the educational system, which is beyond the scope of this paper ( Abramson et al 2013 , López-Uribe 2020 , Orfinger 2020 ). Similarly, following graduation, females in STEM disciplines are less likely to pursue advanced positions or remain in these careers for as long as their men counterparts ( Xu 2015 , Thébaud and Charles 2018 , Jasko et al 2020 ). Additionally, female entomologists, despite representing approximately 50% of all doctoral graduates, are significantly underemployed in entomology disciplines including government and academia compared to men ( Walker 2018 ).…”

“…Programs that support mentor and networking opportunities for underrepresented groups could help aid in encouraging minorities in STEM to begin pursuing these careers earlier ( Jasko et al 2020 ). At all educational levels below college, it is widely believed that fostering girls’ and minority interest in STEM at a younger age will only increase the proportion of motivated women and minorities in the field ( Xu 2015 ).…”