Running head: THE GENDER GAP IN STEM EDUCATION 1brockmana.weebly.com/.../5/...from_action_research.pdfWith the gender gap in the science technology engineering and mathematics (STEM)

Running head: THE GENDER GAP IN STEM EDUCATION 1

The Gender Gap in STEM Education and Influencing Trends

Ashley Brockman

California State University, Long Beach,

ETEC 510

Author Note

Per advanced approval from Dr. Chen and Dr. Adams, October 21, 2015, this literature

review for ETEC 510 was researched and written in conjunction with the ETEC 525 action

research paper, Fall semester, 2015, and does share sources and content.

THE GENDER GAP IN STEM EDUCATION 2

Abstract

With the gender gap in the science technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) program at

Palos Verdes High School reflecting the national trend for gender disparity (in favor of males),

this paper seeks to investigate the nature of that divide. Conducted with the purpose of

informing actionable steps to take to close the gender gap in student enrollment in the Palos

Verdes Institute of Technology (PVIT), the author’s literature review seeks to answer both the

question of the causes of the gender gap and what are effective paths to take in closing it.

Despite focused, deliberate work from public and private organizations as well as schools,

yearly, female enrollment in K-12 as well as secondary STEM programs is markedly lower than

what it is for males. Entrenched gender stereotypes are identified as partly at cause for this

problem. Referencing published articles on the studies of the STEM gender divide, the paper

recommends the use of gender specific hands-on workshops to pique student interest and

participation.


The Gender Gap in STEM Education and Influencing Trends

The science and technology program at Palos Verdes High School, known as PVIT (Palos

Verdes Institute of Technology), is an award winning STEM program that thrives as an

academically diverse program boasting of ten competition teams, four years of Project Lead the

Way classes, a wealth of industry partners and mentors and student autonomy in the form of

peer-led groups producing real-world experience and a gateway to science and engineering

programs in competitive university programs. Students take physics, introduction to engineering

design, aerospace engineering, engineering design and development, computer programming,

and science research in which they work on original research or product development.

The student population of participating students grows each year since the program’s

inception in 2002, and is well balanced between A students and C students, between AP students

and AVID students, and between the racial populations on campus. Students can participate in

the diploma program, choose to take selected courses from the program, participate in the

competition teams, or elect for a combination of the above. The STEM options on campus are

diverse and varied, Where the program is not diverse is the gender divide. Though there is a

consistent female population every year, every year it is only a handful of girls who enroll in the

program. Following the national trend, the program and courses are predominantly male; the

school would like to see this change.

Informed by the lens of studies and publications in the field of gender inequity in the

disciplines of science and technology, reading ten published articles, the research conducted for

this paper examines opportunities in practices to close the gender gap. Guided by the research

questions: Given that otherwise high performing, high achieving, academically rigorous and

curious female students refrain from participating in the PVIT program at a rate comparable to


their male counterparts, what does the literature point to as a reason? Even in consideration of

the studies upon studies published within the last forty years documenting performance gaps in

gender in the maths and sciences, the near absence of female students in these handful of

engaging, rigorous, dynamic, and career-oriented classes, in a community that prompts the

thundering questions: Why? And, What can be done to curb this non participatory trend?

Closing the gap is important and relevant because female high school students who study

and engage actively with STEM curriculum are uniquely positioned for college acceptance. The

world at large will benefit from more women entering the fields of programming, engineering

and technologies as this will infuse the fields with new perspectives and new sensibilities.

Women designing and programming video games, for one small example, may have a vast and

wide-reaching effect on the massive gaming community. Studies have revealed for decades

gender biases in education; now substantially aware of them, it is time to see what can be done

about the world and the systems those biases unintentionally created. The children educated

under these biases choose their fields of study and careers shaped by these biases. This trend then

feeds into the world as the work they produce reflects or is informed by the system that produced

these authors. Relentlessly we are reminded that the world is shrinking in the global marketplace

-- jobs are automated or done remotely for lesser costs -- now is the time to be expanding our

students’ horizons, as wide and vast and varied as they can be. Diversifying the student

population exposed to STEM curriculum figures centrally in this endeavor.


Literature Review

Males disproportionately populating the landscape of STEM fields is not unique to Palos

Verdes High School, or any high school. The inequity has long existed in K-12 education and

tracks then into the university level and into the workforce. Findings emerging from this review

reveal that gender inequity in STEM education and career fields is both a national trend and one

evident in Western countries. Predominantly contributing to this gap is the cyclical effects of

long-standing societal gender biases (taking effect both in the process of females deciding to --

or as is more often the case not to -- enter into STEM fields, and within the world of STEM once

women have). The studies read indicate that focused attention to girls at a critical age, before

they make up their minds about their careers, can be effective in changing enrollment numbers.

Minding the Gap

The U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration [ESA]

found in a 2011 review of the state of women working in STEM careers, that despite women

comprising nearly half of the American workforce, they make up only 24 percent of STEM jobs

(2013). Women in STEM careers experience a significantly narrower wage gap than other

professional women, so in addition to the career fields benefitting from varied perspectives and

sensibilities through a diverse workforce, women are losing access to high paying rewarding jobs

with greater potential for stability and longevity.

Demand for women in these fields -- both to vary the work field and to bring women into

more profitable and rewarding fields of work and study -- is so great, universities, private

corporations and the United States government all are working to close the gap. NASA has built

a partnership with the Girl Scouts of America to provide girls with hands-on learning

experiences and to inspire STEM career choice, the office of the president’s expanded its Cross-


Agency Priority goal to expand the number of students earning STEM undergraduate degrees, to

focusing on the specific support of women through education opportunities, and the Department

of Education has updated Title IX to address STEM, kindergarten through secondary education

(Executive Office, 2013). Universities such as Temple, Colorado School of Mines, and Cal

Maritime explicitly indicate to high school counselors that they are seeking women to apply to

their programs, that both their departments and the STEM industries need them (see Appendix

for notes from the NACAC conference).

While both public and private organizations are exerting themselves to bring STEM

education to underserved populations -- women being just one -- researchers in the field of

education are conducting studies to determine the cause(es) of the divide and methods to close it.

A gender gap in mathematical aptitude has been reported on since the 1970’s (Maccoby &

Jacklin; Hyde; and McGraw et al. as cited in Alexander, Bradley, Cody, & David, 2013).

Similarly, many studies point to a performance gap between the genders in other STEM fields as

well (Liu and Wilson; van Langen et al. as cited in Alexander et al., 2013). But still more recent

studies consider the performance gap to be ‘negligible’. Robinson and Lubienski (as cited by

Alexander et al., 2011) found, in a study of 7,075 American girls and boys from grades K-8,

gender performance in math reached a maximum difference of 0.24 in third and fifth grade, and

by eighth grade narrowed to only 0.12. The study concluded middle school is a critical moment

for intervention and that the inherent differences in gender performance are far from substantial

or prohibitive.


The Direct and Indirect Results of Bias on Interest and Self-Efficacy

Biology, the studies are revealing, and any inherent aptitude attributed to one sex or the

other, are no longer the central issue, and substantially blind stakeholders to the other roadblocks

in women’s paths to the drafting boards, programmers’ desks, and labs. Investigating the

connection between sex and technology self-efficacy, a study, conducted by Huffman, Whetten,

and Huffman (2013), of 750 undergraduates enrolled in a psychology class revealed that gender

roles and perceptions of masculinity need to be factored into the investigation of the gender gap

in the fields of technology; more so than just biology. Biology of the two sexes accounts for

some of the disparity but not all; it is also linked to social perception, longstanding biases, and

more. Huffman et al. argued that the new inclusion of social and cultural factors dictates this

rightly then must influence teaching methods and intervention strategies, accommodating the

differences in learning styles and social behaviors. In concurrence with the looking beyond

biology to account for the low numbers of women in STEM, is a study from Southern Cross

University trying to improve their female enrollment in STEM. According to the U.S.

Department of Labor (as cited by Mason, Cooper, & Comber, 2011), only “27.2% of computer

and information system managers were women. Similarly, women filled 24.8% of computer and

mathematical positions” (p. 71); this trend reappears in both Australia and Canada, but

Malaysia’s report of 50 percent gender equity in these same career fields suggests these low

numbers to be cultural (Mason et al., 2011).

If culture contributes to the divide, and middle school marks a moment of a narrower

divide in mathematical comprehension and performance, then grades seven through ten (when

students are still making up their minds about majors and career paths), present an opportune

time for intervention and recruitment. “The percentage of degrees held by women in STEM


fields ranges from 21 to 32 % in each field” (Diekman et al., as cited in Alexander et al., 2013),

and if it is culture -- perceptions and biases and outdated gender roles -- that are keeping women

from these fields then it is the perceptions that need to be addressed; ideally replacing

misconceptions with experience.

In Mason et al.’s (20ll) review of literature, they determined that girls in grades nine and

ten need to be introduced to STEM curriculum before they “absorb cultural stereotypes”, and that

workshops are more effective for this age group and younger because they are less likely to

already have determined their target careers (p. 73). A review of culture and hidden biases, both

in structure of a program and the culture that defines it should guide all programs in securing a

higher female enrollment. As both at the secondary and professional level male-centric bullying

has presence in STEM fields, in the form of marginalization, project assignments, language, and

more (Removing Bias, 2010) it would behoove programs to examine their own culture, as it is

predominantly male. According to the article “Removing Bias in Academic Science and

Engineering Will Narrow Gender Barriers,” many organizations find that the incidents of a gender

biased work environment are generally “unrecognized features of the organizational culture that

affect men and women differently”, so embedded they are rendered invisible. “The only

indication that such issues exist may be an unexplained inability of the organization to attract,

retain, or promote women in sufficient numbers despite an apparent willingness to do so.” The

article cites an example at the professional level of a workplace have loose expectations with

punctuality and meeting lengths, proving to be more prohibited to women who tend to have

stricter schedules shaped by familial obligations. In the case of students instead of working adults

it might be a case of unconscious stereotypes, or differences in socialization. Passiveness or even

deference to politeness may be interpreted as others as weakness or lack of ability. A student may


then take dominance over a project, never realizing his peer is equally capable, or capable of

achieving equality if afforded the chance. Michelle and Susan (2013) advocate (in the context of

Latina women, but also all women) institutions addressing existing stereotypes resulting from

male dominated fields such as engineering. Doing this would involve a broad view, systems

thinking approach -- really examining a program’s culture, particularly in group settings and

competition teams for their pieces. Such an exercise in self-examination would be valuable, and

would hopefully shape mindfulness that will then enter the secondary level and beyond.

Lichtenstein et al. (2009) assert clearly in their study of the career decisions made by

engineering undergraduates that being an engineering major does not assure a career in

engineering -- life, opportunity, attitude, and varied interests frequently lead to changes in

students’ career paths; the thing their study reminds us of, however, is that even without the

progression from school to STEM professions, students’ time working in STEM fields is

valuable -- the hands-on creative problem-solving skills translate valuably to practically every

other career. A study on college students’ career decisions (Tansley et al. as cited in Lichtenstein

et al., 2009) found that how a career is described or presented can influence students to pursue it.

As Lichtenstein et al. concluded “providing students with exposure to a range of engineering

responsibilities and jobs could attract them to engineering careers” (p. 232). Aware that students

are “malleable” and “fluid” in their career paths -- open to many options outside their majors,

influenced by a wide span of social and environmental influences; that active (rather than

passive) immersion in STEM classes can lead participating students to higher paying more stable

jobs; that all job possibilities are strengthened even when not connected to STEM; and that

society benefits from a diverse workforce in fields that have such broad reach, effective and

strategic recruitment methods must needs be tried.


Stemming the Tide

Research indicates that women -- who use technology less and in different capacities than

males (Farmer, 2008; Drabowicz, 2014; Ritzhaupt, Liu, Dawson, & Barron, 2013) -- need

context in order to value STEM fields. Diekman et al. (as cited in Alexander et al. 2013)

concluded that women benefit from seeing context applied to STEM: Who does the work

benefit? Is the work in line with their world view and goals? “They concluded that if women

view STEM fields as incongruent with their valued goals, it is not surprising that even capable

women select non-STEM career paths.” Perception and attitude can be changed by experience

exposure and immersion (Diekman et al., as cited in Alexander et al., 2013). It is in this

potential for shifts in thinking that opportunity lies. In line with the emphasis in communicating

and constructing context is the National Center for Women and Information Technology and the

Girl Scouts of the USA (as cited in Farmer, 2008) recommendations for relating technology use

to real world contexts relevant to them. A study on raising the numbers of another underserved

population in STEM, Latinos, with a focus on women, identifies definite improvement in

engagement when connections are made “between engineering and solving socially relevant

problems” (Michelle & Susan, 2013). Yet another study -- specifically on students entering the

field of information technology -- reveals the same thing: build motivation and interest in IT by

making explicit the ways in which such work works closely with so many other career paths and

fields of study. Fisher & Margolis (as cited in Mason, 2011) concluded that girls’ interest in the

contexts for which IT work is done over the computing itself “suggests that when promoting IT

to girls the usefulness of IT needs to be stressed” (p. 73).


Attitudes can be changed. Shifting the general public’s entrenched biases has long been

underway but is slow, unweilding, and not near immediate or direct enough. Women do not

need to wait around for outdated societal perceptions to change before staking claim to their

rightful place beside men in science technology and engineering, the women -- as adolescents

and as girls -- need to be targeted and ushered in, the rest will change or dissipate in response.

As cited above, providing meaningful interest and investment is one route to change women’s

likelihood to enter STEM fields, another is lowering womens’ affect -- reducing perceptions of

difficulty. The intimidation of ineptitude or of being too out of their depth needs to be addressed

through experience, raising female self-efficacy. As Farmer (2008) differentiates, gender

stereotypical attitudes are evident in novices’ use of technology; behaviors neutralize with

expertise. Frontloading expertise and lowering affect is the target many organizations are

working towards for girls.

The National Center for Women and Information Technology and the Girl Scouts of the

USA (as cited in Farmer, 2008) advocates (in addition to building on relevance and resonance)

engaging girls with fun, collaborative, hands-on activities under the direction of qualified and

experienced leaders, providing space and time reserved only for girls, presenting female role

models and career opportunities. None of these recommendations fall outside of what common

sense would point to, nor do they differ much from gender neutral programs, but some studies

provide evidence these strategies, though seemingly self-evident, are effective in their goals.

Southern Cross University (SCU), developed a program to target younger girls and

promote the idea of IT as a possible field to study and career path, showing it as a viable option

to young teen girls (Mason, 2011). Though the study was small, they found that large-session,

unfocused recruitment sessions were not effective in recruiting any girls. They also concluded


that having elective sessions off campus for girls was ineffective -- better to come to them than

to ask them to come to you. Small invitation based sessions were held at school sites after career

speakers of two or three professionals spoke to the whole grade level, both boys and girls. Girls

who afterwards showed any interest in IT were then invited to a three weeks later on-campus

special session “IT Girls Day”. In small sessions combining works sessions with Alice and

Mindstorm NXT robots with questionnaires at both the start and the end, researchers monitored

any change in attitude towards the subject matter. Upon completion girls were given treat bags

with program information, candy, and flash drives with Alice software and tutorials. Questions

focused on the girls’ perceived difficulty of programming and their own confidence regarding it

as well as their interest towards programming. Questions also asked whether girls were better

than boys at programming. Interesting, and in need of further exploration, were the responses to

the boys versus girls question. In both sessions girls’ feelings about gender aptitudes did not

change after the sessions from before. Asking the girls to rate their level of agreement, the first

session phrased the question “Generally, girls are better than boys at programming” while the

subsequent session phrased it “Generally, boys are better than girls at programming” (p. 75).

The results from this question -- in which in neither case did the perceptions change from before

to after, but reversed depending on the sequencing of the sentence -- indicate that it may be more

a case of the phrasing circumstantially guiding responses than actual sentiments and opinions.

Perceptions of difficulty did however change after a session, lessening significantly after the

sessions. (There was no significant change in reported interest, but it was already high for them

to be attendance). It is the shift in difficulty that is key -- enjoyment was raised and expectations

of intimidation and difficulty dropped, presented a model for others to try again.


Conclusion

In taking steps to address and mitigate this problem of gender enrollment inequity it first

comes to be determined if female students are opting out of STEM programs because of access

or attitude. Access would include instituted admitting policies, prerequisites, and recruitment

practice, but access to female role models in the fields of science and math, equal time at

classroom STEM learning centers, and equal learning opportunities and equal, or, gender neutral

learning environments would also apply. If these conditions are absent from a female student’s

academic life, I would determine that a lack of access. Barker & Aspray (as cited in Mason et

al., 2011) concluded that “‘Teachers’ beliefs and attitudes about appropriate behaviors and roles

for boys and girls, combined with their attitudes and beliefs about technology, can subtly

influence girls to not study computers’,” and thereby can assert great power over career choices.

Subtle biases built into the structure of a program, or unconsciously ingrained in the attitudes and

approaches of faculty members and male student counterparts can also deny access.

Attitude is broad; it encompasses student’s attitudes towards themselves (academically,

socially, physically, and emotionally); their classmates; their teachers; the subject matter; gender

roles; their families’ professions and expectations; exterior influences; and more. Just as the

contributors to attitude are widely varied, and not static, so too can they be deeply entrenched,

both in the minds of students and society at large. Particularly in the case of self-referential

gender perceptions -- meaning what girls think of themselves rather what others project onto

them. Experience, enjoyment, mentorship, encouragement and context are all tools educators

can wield to reshape interest. Workshops and recruiting may make the difference both in the

lack of STEM self-efficacy and the lack of authentic knowing what STEM looks like and offers.


The path ahead to closing the gap is long, but we do not travel it alone. There are many

who have, in the name of equality and for the betterment of all society taken on the task. As

Lichtenstein et al. (2009) assert, “Encouraging students to pursue careers in engineering would

require deliberate planning and programming on the part of engineering departments, possibly

collaborating with campus career centers” (p. 232). Though there are many avenues, it seems as

though positive proactive advocacy is key. The actions explored in this paper are not to be

enacted at the expense of male students but for the raising up of underrepresented female

students, so that the PVIT program and so many others like it, will grow as inclusionary, diverse

programs; teen students might better interact and understand each other, coming to new

conclusions and solutions from a broadened range of perspectives. This shift then may follow

students to the secondary educations, and into the workforce and general public. Technology

and engineering shape our world; the work they produce then should stem from a varied and

diverse authorship.


References

Alexander, T. J., Bradley, J. B., Cody, L. P., & David, D. G. (2013). An evaluation of interactive

tabletops in elementary mathematics education. Educational Technology, Research and

Dev 61. 311-332. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11423-013-9287-4

Drabowicz, T. (2014). Gender and digital usage inequality among adolescents: A comparative

study of 39 countries. Computers & Education, 74, 98-111.

Executive Office of the President. (2013, February). Women and girls in science,

technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Retrieved from

https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/stem_factsheet_2013_07

232013.pdf

Farmer, L. (2008). Girls and technology: What public libraries can do. Library Hi Tech

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Lichtenstein, G., Heidi, G. L., Claar, B., Helen, L. C., Jackson, K., & Sheri, D. S. (2009). An

engineering major does not (necessarily) an engineer make: Career decision making

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234. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/217948640?accountid=2290

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2(3), 71-77. Retrieved from http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2003638

Michelle, M. C., & Susan, M. L. (2013). Latinos and the exclusionary space of

engineering education. Latino Studies, 11(1), 103-112.

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Press. (Reprinted from Institutional Constraints, Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling

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http://www.esa.doc.gov/sites/default/files/womeninstemagaptoinnovation8311.pdf


Appendix

Session Notes NACAC's 71st National Conference

October 1-3, 2015, San Diego, CA, “Women in Engineering”



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Running head: THE GENDER GAP IN STEM EDUCATION 1brockmana.weebly.com/.../5/...from_action_research.pdfWith the gender gap in the science technology engineering and mathematics (STEM)