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

智力价值：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--对女性决定继续攻读STEM专业的独特贡献。主要目标是扩展目标一致性视角，无论是在概念上还是在经验上，调查女性在STEM中的留存情况。共同目标进程既是对STEM领域妇女匮乏问题的一种挑战，也是一种解决办法。该研究计划考察了(1)与其他专业相比，女性STEM专业学生目标不一致的性质和程度；(2)目标不一致的动机和社会后果；(3)个人可以采取的行为、社会和认知策略来减少目标不一致。主要的研究问题是通过多方法进行研究的。首先，叙事分析提供了关于女性STEM专业学生共同目标不一致的经历的深入了解。其次，纵向调查记录了目标不一致的程度和后果，以及自我报告的减少目标不一致的策略。第三，一些实验研究考察了目标不一致的因果效应，以及有意识和无意识策略的实施以减少目标不一致。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阐述实验室中的因果过程。更广泛的影响：这些研究有可能为女性如何选择或不选择从事STEM职业提供一个极其重要但未被充分研究的视角。特别重要的是，对共同目标进程的关注突出了变革的新机会。如果公共负担能力是可塑性的，那么在大学期间的经历提供了在这些职业中改善选择和留住的潜力。特别是，这些研究侧重于记录可能增加共同目标一致性的战略，然后这些战略不仅可能由个人实施，而且可能由组织单位实施。这项研究的首要目标是扩大女性的职业可能性，并提高人们对科学职业与公共价值之间关系的许多方面的认识。

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.