GSE/RES Career Choice Barriers: Predictors of resilience for women in STEM majors

威斯康星大学密尔沃基分校和亚利桑那州立大学正在合作进行一项研究，该研究将解决：a）在不同的发展阶段（中学和高中后期以及大学二年级），哪些障碍和支持可以被确定为女性选择STEM相关职业的突出因素？ B）这些障碍和支持如何融入一个全面的、以干预为重点的成就和职业选择理论？以及c）这些障碍和支持如何与对STEM职业感兴趣的女孩和妇女的干预措施直接相关？ 数据收集将在两个不同的大都市（密尔沃基，威斯康星州和凤凰城，亚利桑那州），在三个不同的教育水平（初中，高中和大学早期），在三个离散的研究（访谈和分类发展;仪器开发和测试;和综合模型测试）。 参与的组织包括威斯康星大学密尔沃基分校、密尔沃基公立学校、肖尔伍德公立学校、亚利桑那州州立大学和鹿谷学区（亚利桑那州）。 智力优势：泄漏管道的比喻经常被用来描述妇女对科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）准备的兴趣和参与的逐步发展下降。 沿着发生的事情促使女性思考并相信她们不能或不想继续STEM课程，专业或职业。 没有明显的理由说明为什么妇女的这种情况比男子多，因为男女之间的先天能力没有差别（国家科学基金会，2003年）。 虽然理论模型包括成就和选择行为的外部影响，但过去研究此类模型的研究往往侧重于女性选择的内部方面，而不是内部信念和感知如何与外部因素相互作用。 此外，了解在不同阶段可能存在的障碍和支持也很重要。本研究正在对包括学习环境在内的障碍进行分类，并确定在不同发展阶段的职业选择过程中表现出差异的障碍，然后检验包含这些支持和障碍的社会认知职业模型的有效性。 最后，研究人员将把分类法直接与旨在促进追求STEM职业的女性恢复力的干预措施联系起来。 该研究通过引入Eccles（1994）成就模型的元素来增加其预测效用，从而增加了社会认知职业理论在理解成就相关选择中的应用（贝茨哈克特，1983;哈克特贝茨，1981; 1989; Lent，Brown Hackett，2002）。 更广泛的影响：它将确定发展适当的环境障碍和支持，影响妇女在STEM职业道路上的保留，并将其直接转化为旨在促进妇女追求STEM职业的弹性的干预措施。

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Arizona State University are collaborating in a study that will address: a) What barriers and supports can be identified at various developmental stages (middle school and late high school and sophomore in college) as being salient for women's selection of a STEM related career? b) How do these barriers and supports fit into a comprehensive, intervention-focused theory of achievement and career choice? And c) How do these barriers and supports directly relate to interventions for girls and women interested in STEM careers? Data collection will be conducted at two different metropolitan sites (Milwaukee, WI and Phoenix, AZ), across three different educational levels (middle, high school and early college), in three discrete studies (interviews and taxonomy development; instrument development and testing; and comprehensive model testing). Organizations involved include the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee Public Schools, Shorewood Public Schools, Arizona State University and Deer Valley School District (Arizona). Intellectual Merit: The analogy of a leaky pipeline has been used frequently to describe the progressive developmental decrease of women's interest and participation in science, technological, engineering, and math (STEM) preparation. Something happens along the way that prompts women to think and believe that they cannot or do not want to continue in STEM courses, majors, or careers. There is no obvious reason why this would disproportionately occur for women than men since innate abilities do not differ between men and women (NSF, 2003). Although theoretical models include external influences on achievement and choice behavior, past research examining such models has more often focused on the internal aspects of a woman's choice, rather than on how the internal beliefs and perceptions interact with external factors. It is important, also to understand barriers and supports that may differ at various stages.The research study is developing a taxonomy of barriers, including those related to the learning environment, and identifying those that appear to be differentially salient in the career choice process at various developmental points, and then testing the validity of the social cognitive career model containing measures of those supports and barriers. Finally, the investigators will link the taxonomy directly to interventions designed to promote resilience for women pursuing STEM careers. The study increases the applications of the social cognitive career theory to understanding achievement related choices (Betz & Hackett, 1983; Hackett & Betz, 1981; 1989; Lent, Brown & Hackett, 2002) by incorporating elements of Eccles (1994) model of achievement to increase its predictive utility. Broader Impact: It will identify developmentally appropriate environmental barriers and supports that affect women's retention in the path to STEM careers and translate those directly to interventions designed to promote resilience for women pursuing STEM careers.