Gender in STEM Education: A Data-Driven Learning Guide

Application

The NSF Survey of Public Attitudes toward Science and Technology is a multi-year study. Unless otherwise noted, analyses in this exercise focus on data from the last survey year (2001).

Gender and High School STEM Education

Historically women were discouraged from pursuing an education in STEM fields, which were considered inappropriate for women. At the beginning of the 21st Century, do males and females have similar exposure to high school STEM education? To find out, run crosstabs of gender and highest level of math in high school (HIHSMATH), took high school physics course (HSPHYSIC) , and took high school chemistry course (HSCHEMIS) , respectively.

Take a look at the results. Did more men or women take high levels of math? What percentage of women in the sample took calculus, compared to men?

What percentage of men and women took a high school physics course? A chemistry course?

Gender and College STEM Education

To see if these patterns hold for college education look at the variable COLLSCI3, which measures the number of college science courses respondents have taken.

Consider the results of the crosstab between number of science courses in college (COLLSCI3) and gender. Are there significant differences between men and women? Which gender was more likely to have taken 3 or more science courses?

The next crosstab shows the distribution of college majors for each gender in 1981 and 2001. The results are restricted to those respondents with a college degree. The first table shows the crosstab for 1981, the second shows the results for 2001, and the last table combines data for both years.

Looking at the results for 1981 first, then 2001, what percent of (degree-holding) males has a degree in the math/engineering fields? What is the percentage of females with a similar degree? What are the percentages for degrees in biology/physical science/health fields? What do you make of these patterns? Are there similar gender patterns for other majors, and if so, how have they changed between 1981 and 2001? What does this imply for males and females' educational opportunities?

Gendered Expectations, Job Realities

One possible explanation for these gender differences is that males and females face different expectations from parents and teachers. To explore this possibility, examine the variables DAUGHSCI and SONSCI, in which respondents report how they would feel if their daughter/son wanted to be a scientist. This question was only asked in the 1983 and 2001 surveys, so those are the years used in our analyses.

What percentage of 1983 respondents said they would be unhappy if their daughter wanted to be a scientist? What percentage of 2001 respondents reported feeling the same way? Were responses different when respondents were asked about their sons?

The variable SCIENG shows whether respondents have a job in science, engineering or technology fields (coded as "1") or in another field (coded as "0"). Examine the crosstab of SCIENG and GENDER.

What percent of males and females were employed in STEM fields in 2001? Have these percentages changed appreciably compared to 1981?

Note: The online data analysis system (DAS) used on this site uses a system called Survey Documentation and Analysis (SDA), developed and maintained by the Computer-assisted Survey Methods Program (CSM) at the University of California, Berkeley. Documentation for DAS/SDA can be found on their Web site.

Goal & Concept - Dataset - Application - Interpretation & Summary - Bibliography