Patterns of Development in Young Women's Educational Choicesand Experiences in Math and Science

预计未来科学家和工程师的劳动力供应短缺，促使人们注意到全国需要更多地了解影响数学、科学和工程职业招聘和留住男性和女性的因素。尤其重要的是，要加强我们对妇女参与这些领域的障碍的了解。这个项目将解决以下问题：导致女性坚持或放弃数学和科学的知识、获取途径和态度的模式是什么？学校、家庭和个人/心理资源的哪种组合最能解释年轻女性在高中和高中后数学和科学职业中经历的发展模式？男性在数学和科学职业生涯中走的典型道路是什么？这些道路如何以及为什么与女性选择的道路不同？将对三个具有全国代表性的主要数据集--高中及以上、国家教育纵向研究和第二次国际数学教育评估--的横断面和纵向数据进行分析，以探索青年女性(和青年男性)在数学和科学方面的成就模式以及对这些模式的解释。该项目由社会学方案和教育和人力资源研究、评估和传播办公室联合支持，将促进社会学领域的许多领域，包括职业选择、教育社会学、性别和性别角色以及社会分层。该项目的结果将加深我们对如何招募更多的年轻人，无论是男性还是女性，进入科学、数学和工程领域的理解。

Anticipated future labor supply shortages of scientists and engineers have called attention to a national need for greater understanding of the factors influencing the recruitment and retention of men and women in careers in mathematics, science, and engineering. It is particularly important to enhance our knowledge of the barriers to women's participation in these fields. This project will address the following questions: What are the patterns of knowledge, access, and attitudes that lead women to persist in or drop out of mathematics and science? What combination of school, family, and personal/psychological resources best explains the patterns of development experienced by young women in their high school and post-high school mathematics and science careers? What are the typical paths that men follow in their mathematics and science careers and how and why do these differ from the paths women take? Analyses of cross-sectional and longitudinal data from three major nationally representative data sets, High School and Beyond, the National Educational Longitudinal Study, and the Second International Educational Assessment of Mathematics will be conducted in order to explore patterns of young women's (and young men's) achievement in math and science as well as the explanations for these patterns. This project, which is jointly supported by the Sociology Program and the Education and Human Resources Office of Studies, Evaluation and Dissemination, will contribute to a number of areas in the field of sociology, including occupational choice, sociology of education, sex and gender roles, and social stratification. The results of the project will enhance our understanding of how to recruit more young people, male as well as female, into careers in science, mathematics, and engineering.