Inspiring Women in Engineering and Medicine
Workshop for women made them change their mind about the male-dominated field of STEM and more became interested in pursuing orthopedics
“In response to the statement “I am interested in orthopedics” 127 students (27%, p < 0.01) changed their answer after participating in the IWEM workshop and a significant number of participants reported feeling more confident and competent in the use of power tools as well as a self-reported increased understanding of basic orthopedic surgery knowledge. Additionally, participants scored significantly higher on a 6-question quiz evaluating orthopedic knowledge after attending the workshop.”
DiCosmo, Alyssa M, et al. “Inspiring Women in Engineering and Medicine: The Impact of a One-Day Stem Experience on High School Females’ Attitude toward Male-Dominant Professions.” Journal of Surgical Education, vol. 78, no. 5, 2021, pp. 1605–1610.
Undergraduates’ Awareness of White and Male Privilege in Stem
Women and men were surveyed and asked if they had noticed any impact of race or gender on their experience in STEM. Men responded with saying they were not aware of any impact that race or gender had but women of color responded with saying gender and race had a major impact on their experience as a STEM major
“Impacts identified that were attributable to systemic factors included impacts related to being a demographic minority (i.e., intimidation, feeling out of place, feeling pressure to work harder) and/or discrimination (i.e., job discrimination, bias against women or people of color and cultural assumptions implying the superiority of White people and men)”
“The same poll also found that reports of discrimination in STEM are higher than in non-STEM fields. Women in male-dominated STEM fields report experiencing discrimination at work more than women in non-STEM jobs (50% vs. 41%)”
Dancy, Melissa, et al. “Undergraduates’ Awareness of White and Male Privilege in Stem.” International Journal of STEM Education, vol. 7, no. 1, 2020, pp. 1-17.
Mind the gap: Framing of women's success and representation in STEM affects women's math performance under threat
Article talks about how men and women are performing similarly in STEM classes but women begin to underperform in high-stress scenarios like the SAT or GRE. A factor contributing to the gap in performance could be because of stereotype threat which is defined as situational pressure of poor performance would be judged by the group-relevant stereotype.
“However, this did not appear to be the case. We, thus, argue that providing information that highlights the status quo (i.e., the overrepresentation of men) may only solidify perceptions of women's status in STEM, making it difficult for women to envision change.”
“Taken together, these performance results provide evidence for the effectiveness of a group-based strategy in combating stereotype threat. Moreover, these results show that highlighting the unequal representation of women in STEM, although seemingly necessary to inspire women to overcome this underrepresentation, did not reduce stereotype threat effects on performance. A more effective strategy appears to be highlighting that women are becoming more equally represented and successful in STEM, thus reinforcing women’s social progress in areas once dominated by men. These results further illustrate that calling attention to women’s success and subsequent equal representation in STEM was clearly beneficial for women without harming the math performance of men, providing support for the practicality of our approach for combating the effects of stereotype threat.”
Shaffer, E. S., Marx, D. M., & Prislin, R. (2013). Mind the gap: Framing of women's success and representation in STEM affects women's math performance under threat. Sex Roles, 68 (7-8), 454-463.
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