GSE/RES: Staying in STEM: Examining communal goal congruity processes in the retention of women

GSE/RES：留在 STEM：检查留住女性的共同目标一致性流程

• 批准号: 1232364
• 负责人: Amanda Diekman
• 金额: $ 45.95万
• 依托单位: Miami University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-15 至 2018-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1232364&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: GSE; RES; Staying; STEM; Examining

Intellectual Merit: The proposed program of research examines the unique contributions of communal goals -- that is, working with or helping others -- to women's decisions to persist in STEM majors. The primary goal is to extend the goal congruity perspective, both conceptually and empirically, to investigate retention of women in STEM. Communal goal processes are studied as both a challenge and a solution to the problem of the paucity of women in STEM fields. The proposed research program examines (1) the nature and extent of goal incongruity for female STEM majors, compared to other majors; (2) the motivational and social consequences of goal incongruity; and (3) the behavioral, social, and cognitive strategies that individuals can adopt to reduce goal incongruity. The major research questions are investigated through a multi-method approach. First, narrative analysis provides in-depth knowledge about female STEM majors' experiences with communal goal incongruity. Second, a longitudinal survey documents the extent and consequences of goal incongruity, as well as self-reported strategies to reduce goal incongruity. Third, several experimental studies investigate the causal effects of goal incongruity and the implementation of conscious and non-conscious strategies to reduce goal incongruity. The research strategy will be to recruit STEM majors to document the nature and extent of goal incongruity, and then to elaborate on causal processes in the lab by directly manipulating the experience of goal incongruity. Broader Impacts: 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. Especially important is that the focus on communal goal processes highlights a new opportunity for change. If communal affordances are malleable, experiences in the college years offer potential to improve choice of and retention in these careers. In particular, these studies focus on documenting the strategies that might increase communal goal congruity, which then might be implemented not only by individuals but also by organizational units. The overarching goal of this research is to expand career possibilities for women and raise awareness of the many ways in which scientific careers relate to communal values.

智力优势：拟议的研究项目考察了共同目标（即与他人合作或帮助他人）对女性决定坚持STEM专业的独特贡献。主要目标是扩展目标一致性视角，从概念上和经验上调查女性在STEM中的保留情况。共同目标过程是对STEM领域女性人数不足问题的挑战和解决方案。拟议的研究计划检查(1)与其他专业相比，女性STEM专业的目标不一致的性质和程度；(2)目标不一致性的动机和社会后果；(3)个体可采取的减少目标不一致性的行为、社会和认知策略。主要的研究问题是通过多方法的方法进行调查。首先，叙事分析提供了对女性STEM专业学生共同目标不一致经历的深入了解。其次，一项纵向调查记录了目标不一致性的程度和后果，以及自我报告的减少目标不一致性的策略。第三，一些实验研究探讨了目标不一致性的因果效应以及减少目标不一致性的有意识和无意识策略的实施。研究策略将是招募STEM专业的学生来记录目标不一致的性质和程度，然后通过直接操纵目标不一致的经验来详细阐述实验室的因果过程。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。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。如果公共条件是可塑的，那么在大学里的经历就有可能提高对这些职业的选择和保留。特别是，这些研究的重点是记录可能增加社区目标一致性的策略，然后不仅可以由个人实施，也可以由组织单位实施。这项研究的首要目标是扩大妇女的职业可能性，并提高人们对科学职业与公共价值观有关的许多方式的认识。