GSE/RES: The missing piece of the STEM puzzle: The role of communion in women's STEM career decisions

智力优势：拟议的研究将检验女性？人们认为STEM职业不能实现共同目标，这阻碍了他们选择STEM职业。如果STEM职业被认为阻碍了对共同目标的追求，那么STEM职业中的性别差距将继续存在，尽管自我效能感发生了变化，或者在数学和科学方面的经验有所增加。拟议的研究计划旨在以两种方式推进有关动机过程的知识。首先，这些研究运用角色一致性理论视角来考察分散角色（即性别角色）如何影响目标追求，以及个体如何选择特定角色（即职业）来促进其目标追求。其次，这些研究试图考察社会角色选择（即职业追求）受有意识和无意识过程的影响，并随着时间的推移而展开。提出了三个层次的研究；前两个是实验性的，最后一个是纵向的。第一部分关注的是对共同目标的认可是否能预测与STEM职业选择相关的态度和行为：四项研究通过实验激活或实现共同目标来检验共同目标对STEM职业态度和行为的因果影响。第二部分考察了对STEM职业属性的信念如何影响对STEM职业的态度和行为。三项研究通过实验操纵STEM职业的属性，测量职业态度和行为，另一项研究考察了外显信念和内隐联想的变化。最后，一项纵向研究通过调查显式信念、内隐联想和目标实现机会如何交叉影响整个大学期间的STEM职业决策，来检验信念和目标的交集。本研究以本科阶段（13-16岁）的学生为研究对象，涉及两个关键的选择点。在大学的第一年，学生们决定攻读什么专业，在大学的最后一年，学生们决定他们将攻读什么研究生课程；在每一个阶段，他们都排除了许多潜在的职业道路。此外，对于职业选择与当前目标或预期的未来目标有很大关系，而不仅仅是之前的准备这一假设来说，关注本科阶段是至关重要的。更广泛的影响：这些研究提供了一个非常重要但尚未得到充分研究的观点，即女性如何以及为什么选择或不选择从事STEM职业。此外，个体内部心理和对社会结构的信念都被概念化为变化的关键点。关于STEM职业与共同目标之间关系的描述性和实验性证据的积累可以帮助阐明这一持续存在的社会问题。特别重要的是，对共同目标过程的关注突出了变革的新机会。很简单，如果早期的数学和科学经历并不是女性STEM职业选择的全部，那么大学生涯就有可能改善这些职业中的性别平等。PI将与大学顾问会面，传达调查结果，并建立一个网站，向研究人员和更广泛的公众传达调查结果。PI以及本科生和研究生实验室成员将在科学会议上展示研究结果，并将结果提交给同行评审期刊（包括社会，性别，职业心理学）。此外，进行研究的过程将为代表性不足的小组成员提供机会，通过参与PI的研究小组来参与合作科学。

INTELLECTUAL MERIT: The proposed research will examine the hypothesis that women?s choices to pursue STEM careers are inhibited by the perception that STEM careers do not fulfill communal goals. If STEM careers are perceived as blocking the pursuit of communal goals, then the gender gap in STEM careers will remain, despite changes in self-efficacy or increased experience in math and science. The proposed research program seeks to advance knowledge about motivational processes in two ways. First, these studies apply a role congruity theoretical perspective to examine how diffuse roles (i.e., gender roles) influence goal pursuit, as well as how individuals select specific roles (i.e., occupations) to facilitate their goal pursuit. Second, these studies seek to examine social role selection (i.e., career pursuit) as affected by both conscious and non-conscious processes and unfolding over time.Three levels of studies are proposed; the first two experimental and the last longitudinal. Part 1 focuses on whether endorsement of communal goals predicts attitudes and behaviors related to STEM career choices: Four studies experimentally activate or fulfill communal goals to examine the causal impact of communal goals on STEM career attitudes and behavior. Part 2 examines how beliefs about STEM careers' attributes influence attitudes and behavior toward STEM careers. Three studies experimentally manipulate the attributes of STEM careers and measure career attitudes and behavior, and another study examines change to explicit beliefs as well as implicit associations. Finally, a longitudinal study examines the intersection of beliefs and goals by investigating how explicit beliefs, implicit associations, and goal fulfillment opportunities intersect to influence STEM career decisions throughout the college years. This research focuses on students during their undergraduate years (13-16), which involve two critical choice points. In the first year of college, students decide what majors to pursue, and in the final year of college, students decide what post-graduate options they will pursue; at each point they eliminate many potential career tracks. Moreover, the focus on the undergraduate years is critical to the hypothesis that career choice has a great deal to do with current goals or with anticipated future goals, rather than solely with previous preparation.BROADER IMPACT: These studies offer the potential to add a critically important but understudied perspective on how and why women choose or do not choose to pursue STEM careers. Moreover, both intra-individual psychology and beliefs about the social structure are conceptualized as critical points for change. The accumulation of descriptive and experimental evidence about the relationship between STEM careers and communal goals can help to illuminate this persistent social problem. Especially important is that the focus on communal goal processes highlights a new opportunity for change. Quite simply, if early math and science experience are not the whole story with regard to women's STEM career choices, then the college years offer potential to improve gender equality in these careers.The PI will meet with college advisors to communicate the findings, and a website will communicate findings to researchers as well as the broader public. The PI as well as undergraduate and graduate lab members will present findings at scientific conferences and submit results to peer-reviewed journals (including social, gender, occupational psychology). Moreover, the very process of conducting the research will provide opportunities for underrepresented group members to engage in collaborative science by participation in the PI's research group.