Women in Academic Science

Abstract

Much has been written in the past two decades about women in academic science careers, but this literature is contradictory. Many analyses have revealed a level playing field, with men and women faring equally, whereas other analyses have suggested numerous areas in which the playing field is not level. The only widely-agreed-upon conclusion is that women are underrepresented in college majors, graduate school programs, and the professoriate in those fields that are the most mathematically intensive, such as geoscience, engineering, economics, mathematics/computer science, and the physical sciences. In other scientific fields (psychology, life science, social science), women are found in much higher percentages. In this monograph, we undertake extensive life-course analyses comparing the trajectories of women and men in math-intensive fields with those of their counterparts in non-math-intensive fields in which women are close to parity with or even exceed the number of men. We begin by examining early-childhood differences in spatial processing and follow this through quantitative performance in middle childhood and adolescence, including high school coursework. We then focus on the transition of the sexes from high school to college major, then to graduate school, and, finally, to careers in academic science. The results of our myriad analyses reveal that early sex differences in spatial and mathematical reasoning need not stem from biological bases, that the gap between average female and male math ability is narrowing (suggesting strong environmental influences), and that sex differences in math ability at the right tail show variation over time and across nationalities, ethnicities, and other factors, indicating that the ratio of males to females at the right tail can and does change. We find that gender differences in attitudes toward and expectations about math careers and ability (controlling for actual ability) are evident by kindergarten and increase thereafter, leading to lower female propensities to major in math-intensive subjects in college but higher female propensities to major in non-math-intensive sciences, with overall science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors at 50% female for more than a decade. Post-college, although men with majors in math-intensive subjects have historically chosen and completed PhDs in these fields more often than women, the gap has recently narrowed by two thirds; among non-math-intensive STEM majors, women are more likely than men to go into health and other people-related occupations instead of pursuing PhDs. Importantly, of those who obtain doctorates in math-intensive fields, men and women entering the professoriate have equivalent access to tenure-track academic jobs in science, and they persist and are remunerated at comparable rates-with some caveats that we discuss. The transition from graduate programs to assistant professorships shows more pipeline leakage in the fields in which women are already very prevalent (psychology, life science, s...

Learning from video modeling examples: does gender matter?

“…In contrast, no such effects were found for grade 4-6 students who observed a male or female model solving fraction problems . Although mathematical tasks are typically more associated with males than females (Forgasz et al 2004;Stewart-Williams 2002), young children do not yet seem to hold this association, which becomes stronger during adolescence (Steffens et al 2010; see also Ceci et al 2014). In other words, the 10 year olds in the study by Schunk et al (1987) More recent studies also suggest mixed findings, however.…”

Norway’s gender gap: classroom participation in undergraduate introductory science

“…Throughout the undergraduate experience, women in STEM are more likely to face subtle bias from their peers and faculty that may have lasting negative impacts on academic performance and measures of active inclass participation (15)(16)(17). The outcome is female attrition along the STEM pathway, such that at the faculty level, only one third across geoscience and life science disciplines are women (18). This further disadvantages female undergraduates, who disproportionately benefit by having women in positions of authority within their discipline; female faculty are more likely to serve as mentors for women (19), and their presence increases female students' confidence in their ability to do science (7), science identities (20), and their performance (21)(22)(23)(24) and persistence (25) in STEM.…”

Reconciling work and family in the context of boundaryless careers: academic careers in social sciences and humanities

“…Mobility is a particular issue when women have partners and families. It has been shown that women scientists frequently marry other scientists (Mason and Goulden 2004;Ceci et al 2014), more so than men. This presents issues of dual careers.…”

“…As well as possibly less hours worked, this could also be due to having less time to network. This may include socializing after work or at weekends (Ackers 2007), when people, especially women with small children, may not be available (Ceci et al 2014). Women might suffer lack of progression because they take time out for maternity or reduce their hours to care for children even temporarily.…”

“…Failure to work long hours may reduce research productivity. According to Ceci et al (2014), research has shown that men generally publish more than women and this gap has only narrowed slightly over time. Some evidence has also shown that research funding awarded to women is less.…”