ERIC Number: EJ830692
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Mar
Pages: 44
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0033-2909
EISSN: N/A
Women's Underrepresentation in Science: Sociocultural and Biological Considerations
Ceci, Stephen J.; Williams, Wendy M.; Barnett, Susan M.
Psychological Bulletin, v135 n2 p218-261 Mar 2009
The underrepresentation of women at the top of math-intensive fields is controversial, with competing claims of biological and sociocultural causation. The authors develop a framework to delineate possible causal pathways and evaluate evidence for each. Biological evidence is contradictory and inconclusive. Although cross-cultural and cross-cohort differences suggest a powerful effect of sociocultural context, evidence for specific factors is inconsistent and contradictory. Factors unique to underrepresentation in math-intensive fields include the following: (a) Math-proficient women disproportionately prefer careers in non-math-intensive fields and are more likely to leave math-intensive careers as they advance; (b) more men than women score in the extreme math-proficient range on gatekeeper tests, such as the SAT Mathematics and the Graduate Record Examinations Quantitative Reasoning sections; (c) women with high math competence are disproportionately more likely to have high verbal competence, allowing greater choice of professions; and (d) in some math-intensive fields, women with children are penalized in promotion rates. The evidence indicates that women's preferences, potentially representing both free and constrained choices, constitute the most powerful explanatory factor; a secondary factor is performance on gatekeeper tests, most likely resulting from sociocultural rather than biological causes. (Contains 8 footnotes and 5 figures.)
Descriptors: Careers, Disproportionate Representation, Women Administrators, Sociocultural Patterns, Cross Cultural Studies, Mathematics, Guidelines, Mathematics Tests, Mathematics Achievement, Faculty Promotion, Gender Differences
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A