Table of Contents
Editor's Notes 1 Joy Gaston Gayles
1. Major Selection and Persistence for Women in STEM 5 Casey A. Shapiro, Linda J. Sax This chapter discusses key factors related to gender differences in selection and persistence in STEM fields of study. The chapter concludes with recommendations for institutional research and future studies on women's experiences in STEM majors on college campuses.
2. Gender Matters: An Examination of Differential Effects of the College Experience on Degree Attainment in STEM 19 Joy Gaston Gayles, Frim D. Ampaw This chapter examines how the relationship between college experiences and degree attainment differs for men and women in STEM fields. On the basis of their fi ndings, the authors provide recommendations for future research on studying the college experience for women in STEM.
3. Living-Learning Programs for Women in STEM 27 Karen Kurotsuchi Inkelas Living-learning programs for women in STEM exist in various forms on college campuses across the country. This chapter offers an overview of the role and functions of living-learning programs and summarizes empirical evidence on living-learning communities’ effectiveness in retaining women in STEM.
4. The Role of Community Colleges in Educating Women in Science and Engineering 39 Dimitra Lynette Jackson, Frankie Santos Laanan Community colleges have the potential to serve as a major gateway for educating the next generation of female scientists. The authors of this chapter share the results from a mixed-methods study that examined the experiences of female students in STEM who transferred from the community college system.
5. The Postbaccalaureate Goals of College Women in STEM 51 Darnell Cole, Araceli Espinoza Equally important as attracting and retaining women in science is the extent to which they persist in science careers after graduation. Using social cognitive career theory as a guiding framework, the authors summarize the results from a study on the postbaccalaureate goals of women in STEM.
6. Understanding the Factors Affecting Degree Completion of Doctoral Women in the Science and Engineering Fields 59 Frim D. Ampaw, Audrey J. Jaeger Underrepresentation of women in STEM is prevalent in graduate education, and the problem extends to women in faculty ranks. The low representation of women in science is prevalent and extends to the faculty as well. This chapter summarizes the fi ndings from a study that examined pathways to the professoriate for female graduate students in STEM.
7. Women of Color in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) 75 Dawn R. Johnson One of the challenges in studying the experiences of women in STEM involves treating women as a homogeneous group, which obscures important racial and ethnic differences. This chapter highlights the importance of addressing intersecting identities in research on women in STEM.
8. New Tools for Examining Undergraduate Students' STEM Stereotypes: Implications for Women and Other Underrepresented Groups 87 Sylvia C. Nassar-McMillan, Mary Wyer, Maria Oliver-Hoyo, Jennifer Schneider In this chapter, the authors discuss the measurement development process for three assessment tools designed to gauge how individuals perceive scientists. From the results of this fi ve-year NSF-funded project, implications are offered for institutional research and practice.
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