Collaborative Research: Science of Broadening Participation -- From School to Work: A Longitudinal Study of Gender Stratification in Science and Engineering

SES-1123747苏珊·西尔贝麻省理工学院布莱恩·鲁比诺·康奈尔大学SES-1124169加州大学卡罗尔·塞隆大学-欧文扩大参与的科学--从学校到工作：科学和工程领域性别分层的纵向研究摘要美国和其他发达经济体在能源、环境和国防等技术领域面临前所未有的挑战。解决这些挑战需要一支多样化的、受过高等教育的劳动力队伍，拥有科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)方面的专业知识。造成美国STEM专业人员生产不足的原因之一是一些STEM专业人员存在明显的性别隔离，特别是在工程领域。因此，我们用来开发所需工程专业知识的人口要少得多。这一项目旨在帮助我们了解STEM领域持续存在的性别隔离的原因。PIs进行的一项早期研究对一组男性和女性进行了为期五年的调查和采访，从他们大学教育的第一年开始。这个小组包括了不成比例的计划主修工程的年轻男女，他们在科学和数学方面取得了堪称典范的成就。然而，在接受了四年的工程学教育后，在大学毕业和进入劳动力市场前不久，计划从事工程学职业的女性比例明显低于男性。分析显示，比起男性，更多的女性对自己从事工程工作的能力缺乏信心。目前的项目在下一个职业阶段--即他们预期的大学毕业5年后，以及他们在劳动力市场的早期--重新审视这些人。此时，该项目将收集数据，使研究人员能够比较个人(信心)、组织(与工作场所有关)和社会网络因素的作用，以解释特定性别的职业轨迹决定，特别是关于STEM领域。在方法上，这项研究扩展了一个独特的纵向数据集，以解释从大学和研究生培训到专业劳动力的关键转变。所使用的理论模型通过检验关于因果个体和性别差异的社会心理学理论、组织层面的过程和关于社会网络有效性的社会资本理论，判定了职业就业中持续的性别分层的最重要的有争议的解释。更广泛的影响这项研究的发现可能有助于解释STEM领域的磨损模式和持久性，特别是工程领域。私营和公共部门的雇主、当前和未来的专业人员以及高等教育机构都对这一重要问题感兴趣。此外，STEM中持续的性别隔离可能会损害美国在全球经济中的竞争地位。这项研究的发现也可能有助于旨在提高国家科学竞争力的政策制定。

SES-1123747Susan Silbey Massachusetts Institute of TechnologySES-1123905Brian Rubineau Cornell UniversitySES-1124169Carroll Seron University of California-IrvineScience of Broadening Participation -- From School to Work: A Longitudinal Study of Gender Stratification in Science and EngineeringAbstractThe United States and other advanced economies face unprecedented challenges in technical areas such as energy, environment, and defense. Solving these challenges requires a diverse, highly educated labor force, with professional expertise in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Contributing to the problem of under-production of STEM professionals in the U.S. is the pronounced gender segregation in some STEM professions, especially in engineering. As a consequence, we have a much smaller population from which to develop the needed engineering expertise. This project seeks to help us understand what causes continued gender segregation in STEM fields.An earlier study conducted by the PIs surveyed and interviewed a group of men and women for five years, beginning with the first year of their college education. This panel included a disproportionate number of young men and women planning to major in engineering, who had demonstrated exemplary achievement in science and mathematics. Yet, after four years of engineering education, shortly before college graduation and entry into the labor market, a significantly smaller percentage of the women than the men planned to pursue careers in engineering. Analyses showed that more women than men reported lower confidence in their ability to have a career in engineering. The current project revisits these men and women at the next career stage -- 5 years after their anticipated college graduation, and during their early years in the labor market. At this time, the project will collect data that enables researchers to compare the role of individual (confidence), organizational (workplace-related), and social network factors to explain gender specific career track decisions, especially regarding STEM fields. Methodologically, this study expands a unique longitudinal dataset to explain the critical transition from college and post-graduate training to the professional workforce. The theoretical model used adjudicates among the most important contending explanations for persistent gender stratification in professional employment by testing social psychological theories of causal individual and gender differences, organization-level processes, and social capital theories concerning the efficacy of social networks. Broader ImpactsFindings from this research may help explain patterns of attrition from and persistence in STEM fields, and engineering in particular. This important issue is of interest to private- and public-sector employers, current and future professionals, as well as institutions of higher education. Moreover, persistent gender segregation in STEM could compromise the competitive position of the United States in a global economy. Findings from this study may also contribute to policy developments aimed at improving the nation's scientific competitiveness.