ERIC Number: EJ1219639
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1380-3611
EISSN: N/A
Gender Norms and STEM: The Importance of Friends for Stopping Leakage from the STEM Pipeline
Educational Research and Evaluation, v24 n6-7 p417-436 2018
More women are now entering male-dominated fields, yet, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) remain dominated by men. We examined the association between boys' and girls' STEM choices after secondary education and friends' gender norms, and whether pressure to conform to traditional gender norms differs depending on the gender composition of the friend group. Drawing on 3 waves of longitudinal data (N = 744) from the Netherlands, our sample consists of adolescents in STEM trajectories in secondary education. Their retention in STEM after secondary education gives us a better understanding of gender-specific "leakage" from the STEM pipeline. We found that girls' likelihood of choosing STEM decreased drastically when friends had more traditional gender norms. Friends with traditional gender norms had less effect on boys. Nonetheless, boys with only same-sex friends were more likely to enter STEM. Our findings indicate that an environment with gender-normative ideas pushes girls out of the STEM pipeline.
Descriptors: Females, Social Influences, Gender Differences, STEM Education, Disproportionate Representation, Peer Influence, Social Attitudes, Friendship, Secondary School Students, Academic Persistence, Postsecondary Education, Majors (Students), Males, Foreign Countries, Mathematics Achievement, Parent Background, Educational Attainment, Immigrants, Gender Issues
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education; Postsecondary Education; Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Netherlands
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A