Single-Sex High Schools and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Careers

SES-1023911 Hyunjoon ParkJere Bechrman宾夕法尼亚大学尽管在过去几十年中，美国和其他发达国家的女性在整体教育程度上取得了显着进步，但在科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）大学专业和职业中，女性的比例远远低于男性的比例。拟议的项目将调查一个特定的教育机构-单一性别的高中-是否可以帮助克服STEM学习和兴趣方面的性别差异。虽然该项目的主要目的是评估女校女生和男女同校女生在STEM方面的差异，但也将系统地研究男校男生和男女同校男生之间的差异。与以前的研究相比，这个项目的一个关键改进是使用了来自韩国的数据，韩国的学生被随机分配到单性别高中和男女同校的高中。在韩国，学生被随机分配到高中，这使得解决选择偏差成为可能，而大多数以前的研究都存在这种偏差，因为它们使用的是观察数据。具体来说，使用两个不同的数据集的全国代表性的高中学生，研究将探讨如何单性高中提高高中生？数学和科学考试成绩，以及高中生？对STEM大学专业的期望。 特别是，该项目将重点关注与单性高中影响学生STEM成绩的机制有关的问题。 该项目实证测试三种机制的单性别学校，建议由以前的文献：更好的学术氛围，更好的师生关系/互动，和增强学生？数学和科学中的自我概念/自我效能。由于随机化，标准普通最小二乘法（用于数学和科学考试成绩等连续测量）和有限的因变量（例如期望STEM大学专业）估计量将对单性别学校的影响产生无偏估计。通过实证测试为什么单一性别学校可能比男女同校学校更有效的三种解释，该项目将能够在理解单一性别学校如何影响重要的高中指标方面取得重大进展。更广泛的影响。 该项目有望大大提高我们对全女子高中是否是扩大女学生参与STEM职业的重要机构的理解。通过确定据称产生单一性别学校效应的机制，该项目对包括美国在内的其他国家的影响超出了独特的韩国环境。 项目研究结果将通过在具有一般读者和学术读者的期刊上发表的方式传播给学校校长、教师和教育决策者。鉴于包括美国在内的几个国家对单一性别学校的兴趣日益浓厚，将其作为解决包括STEM成果在内的教育差距的一种手段，该项目的研究结果将为最近扩大单一性别学校的教育努力提供及时的证据。

SES-1023911Hyunjoon ParkJere BechrmanUniversity of PennsylvaniaDespite the significant progress of women in overall educational attainment during the last few decades in the United States and other developed countries, the proportion of females in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) college majors and occupations is much smaller than the proportion of males. The proposed project will investigate whether one particular educational institution--single-sex high schools--can help overcome gender disparities in STEM learning and interest. Although the major interest of the project is to assess differences in STEM outcomes between girls attending all-girls schools and their counterparts attending coeducational schools, differences between boys attending all-boys schools and those attending coeducational schools will be also systematically examined. A critical improvement of this project over previous research is the usage of data from South Korea where students are randomly assigned into single-sex versus coeducational high schools. The random assignment of students into high schools in Korea makes it possible to address selection biases from which most previous studies have suffered because they use observational data. Specifically, using two different datasets of nationally representative high school students, the study will explore how single-sex high schools enhance high school students? mathematics and science test scores, and high school students? expectations of STEM college majors. In particular, the project will focus on issues related to the mechanisms through which single-sex high schools influence students' STEM outcomes. The project empirically tests three mechanisms of single-sex schools, suggested by previous literature: better academic climates, better teacher-student relations/interactions, and enhanced students? self-concept/self-efficacy in mathematics and science. Because of the randomization, standard ordinary least squares (for continuous measures such as mathematics and science test scores) and limited dependent variables (such as expecting a STEM college major) estimators will yield unbiased estimates of the effects of single-sex schools. By empirically testing three explanations of why single-sex schools might be more effective than coeducational schools, the project will be able to make significant advances in understanding how single-sex schools may have impacts on important high school indicators of advancement towards STEM careers. Broader Impacts. The project promises to make significant improvements in our understanding of whether all-girls high schools are an important institution to broaden participation of female students in STEM careers. By identifying mechanisms through which single-sex school effects are purportedly generated, the project has implications beyond the unique Korean setting to other countries including the US. Project findings will be disseminated to school principals, teachers, and educational policymakers by publishing the results in journals that have general r as well as academic readership. In light of growing interest in single-sex schools in several countries including the US as a means for addressing educational disparities including STEM outcomes, the project findings will provide timely evidence regarding recent educational efforts to expand provision of single-sex schooling.