Educational Pathways to Science and Other Careers for Academically Talented Women

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究项目的总体目标是确定妇女在专业和商业以及科学领域的职业生涯的机会如何增长，这影响了大学专业的决策过程，以及学术人才高中和大学女性以及更广泛的大学女性的未来职业选择。我们将从内在兴趣因素中分离出在科学职业中将家庭和工作结合起来的感知困难的影响，这些内在兴趣因素可以说在大学专业和随后的职业生涯的决定中发挥了重要作用。我们还将估计职业-家庭不相容性在女性进步最小的科学领域（物理科学和工程）与其他科学领域，商业和精英职业（即，法律、医学、牙科和其他精英职业），妇女在这些领域取得了显著进步。我们将比较具体领域的估计实际（和可能发生变化）的职业和家庭之间的不相容性的看法，女性的职业和家庭的不相容性，而在学校的女性的选择行为中透露。最后，我们将确定在数学和科学课程方面有很强课程的高中是否在引导女性从事科学职业方面做得更好，这些影响是否在教育生涯中持续存在，以及在过去25年中，具有强大数学和科学课程的高中比例的变化是否有助于刺激追求科学职业的女性比例不断增长。我们的研究对于正确理解女性在科学（特别是物理科学和工程学）方面的不足以及未来趋势的可能预测非常重要。公共卫生相关性：该研究项目的总体目标是确定妇女在专业和商业以及科学领域拥有职业的机会越来越多，这如何影响大学专业的决策过程以及学业有才华的高中和大学妇女对未来职业的选择。我们将从内在兴趣因素中分离出在科学职业中将家庭和工作结合起来的感知困难的影响，这些内在兴趣因素可以说在大学专业和随后的职业生涯的决定中发挥了重要作用。我们的研究对公共卫生具有重要意义，因为学术上有才华的高中女性是未来健康相关领域科学家的主要潜在来源，对影响其职业选择的因素的更多了解可以导致政策，以确保健康科学家的充足供应，以满足美国未来的需求。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of this research project is to determine how growing opportunity for women to have careers in the professions and business as well in science is affecting the decision process about college major and the choice of future career for academically-talented high school and college women as well as the broader population of college oriented women. We will disentangle the impact of perceived difficulties in combining family and work in a science career from the intrinsic interest factors that arguably play a strong role in the determination of college major and subsequent career. We also will estimate the extent to which career-family incompatibility differs between the areas of science where women have made the least progress (physical science and engineering) and other areas of science, business, and elite professions (i.e., law, medicine, dentistry and other elite professions) where women have made significant progress. We will compare field-specific estimates of actual (and possibly changing) incompatibility between career and family with the perceptions of women about career-family incompatibility that are revealed in the choice behaviors of women while in school. Finally, we will establish whether high schools that have strong curricula in math and science do a better job in pointing women towards science careers, whether these effects persist over the educational career, and whether changes in the proportion of high schools with strong math and science curricula have helped to stimulate the growing proportion of women who have pursued science careers over the past twenty five years. Our study is important for a proper understanding of the female shortfall in science (particularly in the physical sciences and engineering) and the likely prognosis for future trends. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The overall goal of this research project is to determine how growing opportunity for women to have careers in the professions and business as well in science is affecting the decision process about college major and the choice of future career for academically-talented high school and college women. We will disentangle the impact of perceived difficulties in combining family and work in a science career from the intrinsic interest factors that arguably play a strong role in the determination of college major and subsequent career. Our study has important implications for public health because academically talented high school women are a major potential source of future scientists in health-related areas, and greater knowledge about the factors that affect their career choices can lead to policies to ensure an adequate supply of health scientists to fill America's future needs.