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

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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.