Women in STEM

1. Women in STEM • Taylor Altizer & Paloma Franco • CCSD 562: Today’s College Student • Professor Holly Holloway-Friesen

2. Research Question: Are undergraduate women at a liberal arts university adequately supported in STEM programs compared to undergraduate women at a medium-sized polytechnic university?

3. Summary of Literature • Themes • Defining Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics • Trends of women in STEM • The decrease (from 37% in 1984 to 25% in 2004) in women graduating with computer science degrees • The low percentage of women in computer science related jobs today being lower than it was in 1993 • Persistence and retention • Self-efficacy • Gender disparities between men and women in STEM • Necessity to shift the way STEM fields are being marketed to girls and young women • Men outnumbering women in STEM jobs, and the lack in occupational equity • Educational inequity • Vocations in the STEM field

4. Method At the polytechnic university, women in STEM organizations already existed, so the focus group was formed through contacting the presidents of these organizations. At the liberal arts university, women in STEM organizations do not exist, so connections were made through e-mail communication with students Participants 11 women 2 focus groups: 3 & 4 “Brooke”-- 22, sophomore, Asian American, Math “Phoebe” -- 21, junior, Latina, civil engineering “Elena” -- 22, senior Latina, civil engineering “Mindy” -- 20, Mexican, applied health major “Rachel” -- 20, Caucasian, applied health “Emily” -- 20, Latina, applied health “Caroline” -- 20, Mexican, clinical psychology 1-on-1: 4 Materials 10 interview questions “Peyton” -- alumnus, 23, Caucasian “Jess”-- 21, senior, Caucasian, mathematics “Haley”-- 20, junior, Caucasian, biology Procedure Grounded Theory Method “Monica”-- alumnus, 26, Latina, mathematics & secondary teaching • Difference between liberal arts and polytechnic universities

5. Results Self-Efficacy “I just knew I was really good at math, and I did well in math and I liked it, so I just chose civil engineering” “because there aren’t a lot of us in um in the math program and, and so sometimes we feel like were like representing the women and um we want to represent them right” • Key Quotes Discrepancy between men and women Inspired to pursue STEM “I had a math teacher in high school um a female math teacher um who was just really awesome, she um she was a Christian and she um she was just so excited about math all the time she just really encouraged me my junior and senior year of high school to pursue something in math.” “Um, for me it was my first internship, it was at a place that made uh catheters and I got to see all aspects of research and development and like their clinical development, all those different departments, and that really interested me in that area.” “sometimes it is harder for um for women to get um like the higher paying jobs in um in math and science um, I know there’s just not a lot of women who can do it and um, and we talked more about how like why, why it is that there’s not as many women in math and science and um a lot of the research shows that because um just because of how girls are like brought up like when they are little they would, they would play with dolls and kitchen sets and boys get to play with blocks and um and do a lot more spatial games and so it kind of like preps their minds for the physics and um the spatial awareness you need to uh to really like understand math and um and a lot of girls just don’t have that.” “

6. Differences between Polytechnic & Liberal Arts Universities “so I was really planning on being an athletic trainer until probably sophomore year of high school and then I went to Haiti um with a few other students not really through an organization on a missions trip but we just found an orphanage and went down for a trip and we visited a few public and private hospitals and I realized if I had the access to an education fairly easy and if I have the academic intelligence, why I would not try to get to the highest level of education to help the most amount of people that I can.” “Yeah, I would say so um every time I went to uh women symposium where it was dedicated to stem major or a master symposium its just empowering just to go although I didn’t understand its just empowering just to see those examples of those women who are um who made it through and who are successful and good at what they were doing really empowered me.” Desire for change and progress “I don’t think so, um, they’ve never um yeah, they’ve never brought anything like that up, yeah for math and physics, but that would be good to have. But yeah they, I don’t think we have one, I know that, I think they have one for like the biology department just because that is such a bigger department.”

7. Discussion Analysis From Literature Suggestions for Practice Defining STEM Trends of women in STEM Persistence and retention Self-efficacy Vocations Welcoming environment for women in the classroom Female role models Societies/Clubs for women in STEM From FG & Interviews Self-Efficacy Inspired to pursue STEM Differences between Polytechnic & Liberal Arts Universities Discrepancy between men and women Desire for change and progress Suggestions for Research Race and Ethnicity Religion and Spirituality Institutional Differences Limitations Time Cal Poly Pomona not in session Accessing female students in STEM

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