Chapter 9 Retaining Female Students’ Int“her”est in STEM Fields PDF

Chapter 9 Retaining Female Students’ Int“her”est in STEM Fields Katherine N. Vela Luciana R. Barroso Mary Margaret Capraro School of Teacher Education Zachry Department of Civil Department of Teaching, and Leadership and Environmental...

Chapter 9 Retaining Female Students’ Int“her”est in STEM Fields Katherine N. Vela Luciana R. Barroso Mary Margaret Capraro School of Teacher Education Zachry Department of Civil Department of Teaching, and Leadership and Environmental Learning & Culture Utah State University Engineering Aggie STEM Aggie STEM Texas A&M University Texas A&M University Women have been underrepresented in certain science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and careers. STEM field occupations are expected to grow more rapidly than any other field; therefore, educators, policy makers, and curriculum reformers must prepare and encourage female students to pursue these opportunities. There is a growing interest in researching methods and techniques for engaging, empowering, and retaining women in STEM fields in order to fill the demand of the STEM workforce, bring in diverse ideas, and ensure equity among STEM fields and careers (Ireland et al., 2018). The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of women in STEM, discuss differences and similarities in psychological dispositions of women and men toward STEM, examine factors that contribute to the disparity of women in STEM fields, provide ideas that may help retain women in STEM pathways, and offer suggestions on what current teachers can do in their classrooms now to encourage and retain female students’ interest in pursuing STEM fields. 154 Retaining Female Students’ Int“her”est  Chapter Outcomes When you complete this chapter, you should better understand and be able to explain the challenges female students face in pursuing STEM pathways in what ways female students’ participation in STEM differs in secondary education settings and in post-secondary education the roles of the instructor in supporting female students’ interest in STEM When you complete this chapter, you should be able to describe women’s participation in STEM fields differentiate between male and female students’ dispositions toward STEM fields identify and/or implement STEM project-based learning (PBL) activities or ideas that encourage female students to pursue STEM fields Chapter Overview This chapter describes the challenges female students face when pursuing STEM interests throughout their schooling, particularly the pressures placed upon them as they enter post- secondary education to pursue non-STEM pathways. We then discuss how societal pressures influence female and male psychological dispositions toward STEM differently and how these give rise to discouraging and encouraging factors. Finally, we explain how instructors can implement STEM PBL in a way that acknowledges and addresses the various factors that discourage female students from pursuing STEM. Where Are They Now? Advanced High School Classes Female students are enrolling in advanced high school STEM classes at a similar pace to their male peers. However, according to Advanced Placement (AP) Exam data (1997–2019), there is still a sex gap between the percent of male students taking AP STEM exams compared to female students taking AP STEM exams (See Figure 1). Although Figure 1 shows that female students have been consistently enrolling in and taking AP STEM classes and exams, it also highlights the disparity between male and female students. In spite of the steady pace of male and female students taking AP STEM exams, the sex gap was on a steady decrease from 1997 to about 2008 (see Figure 2). From 2009 to current exam data, the sex gap seemed to be leveling off. While these data are promising, this trend changes when students get to college. Retaining Female Students’ Int“her”est 155 Figure 1. Percent of STEM AP Tests by Figure 2. Percent of Sex Gap in STEM AP Year and Sex Exams *adapted from the College Board 1997–2019 Program Summary Reports STEM Majors Female students are underrepresented in all STEM majors, are less Note: Women are likely than men to major in various STEM fields, and often report underrepresented in negative attitudes toward STEM (Hill et al., 2010). As seen in Figure 3, specific STEM fields the sex gap is exacerbated for first-year, full-time students in but are largely engineering programs at the university level (Hamrick, 2019). In 2016, overrepresented in roughly only 24% of first-year female students had enrolled in an social sciences, engineering program, while almost 78% of first-year male students psychology, and were enrolled in an engineering program. This trend indicates that, biological sciences. once in college, many women shy away from engineering-specific majors. Additionally, according to prior research, female students avoid choosing majors that may be mathematically demanding, such as physics, engineering, and information technology (Clewell & Burger, 2002; Demetry et al., 2009; Hammack & High, 2014; Han, 2016; Watt el al., 2017). Female students typically choose majors in health service, social sciences, or biology, with a mindset of wanting to give back to their communities (Demetry et al., 2009; Han, 2016; Watt el al., 2017). Figure 3. Percent of First Year Students in Engineering Programs by Year and Sex 156 Retaining Female Students’ Int“her”est This trend is highlighted in Figures 4 and 5, which depict the number of STEM-related bachelor’s degrees awarded by field and sex (Hamrick, 2019). Looking closely at these figures, one can see the majority of bachelor’s degrees awarded to female students are in social sciences, psychology, and biological sciences. Furthermore, when you compare Figures 4 and 5, you can see a larger number of male students are awarded bachelor’s degrees in engineering and computer sciences than female students. While female students are graduating with various STEM degrees, they are largely unrepresented in mathematics-intensive fields, such as engineering and computer science. The question remains, how do we increase female students’ interest in mathematics-intensive fields to close the sex gap seen in university STEM majors? Figure 4. Number of STEM-Related Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded to Female Students by Field Figure 5. Number of STEM-Related Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded to Male Students by Field *data tables adapted from Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering (Hamrick, 2019). Retaining Female Students’ Int“her”est 157  According to prior research, science and mathematics fields are seen Note: Female students as masculine, while humanities and the arts are seen as feminine tend to have lower self- (Hill et al., 2010). This may explain why female students are efficacy and negative uninterested in science- and mathematics-intensive fields as a attitudes or perceptions toward STEM fields. university major. Furthermore, the fact that many educators still view STEM fields as masculine may negatively impact female students’ attitudes and perceptions of being successful in a STEM field (Martin & Beese, 2016). Because of these stereotypical views, it is important to empower and engage female students in STEM activities to show they too can be successful in these male-dominated fields. In order to empower and engage female students, one must first understand the psychological dispositions of female students toward STEM fields. Psychological Dispositions Toward STEM Fields Psychological dispositions, such as attitude, self-efficacy, and perceptions, influence female students’ desire to pursue a STEM pathway. Therefore, it is important to understand the current state of these psychological dispositions in order to determine areas in need of support and improvement. According to prior research, female students have a lower self-efficacy, or confidence in performing specific tasks, toward STEM fields when compared to their male counterparts (Hyde et al., 1990). Additionally, female students tend to have negative attitudes and perceptions toward STEM careers. One study found that women who decided to pursue a STEM pathway chose to do so because they were always interested in it or because of a specific teacher or class (Del Carlo & Wagner, 2019). This indicates that self-efficacy and interest toward STEM is established at an early age and encouraged by teachers. There are several factors that encourage and discourage female students, and these factors impact students’ psychological dispositions toward STEM fields. Discouraging Factors Female students face many obstacles when choosing a STEM pathway, such as fear, discouragement, self-doubt, and sexed stereotypes. These factors typically discourage female students from continuing in STEM pathways. Many of these factors begin early in a student’s academic career and continue throughout their pathway. For instance, male students typically receive support from parents and teachers to pursue STEM interests, which cultivates their confidence and fosters the idea that they are a good fit for STEM careers (Nosek et al., 2002). In contrast, female students are often encouraged to focus on family studies and other sociological fields rather than exploring STEM pathways and being challenged to solve problems (Dasgupta & Stout, 2014). Furthermore, research has found that female students are less likely to be encouraged to pursue STEM fields than their male counterparts after high 158 Retaining Female Students’ Int“her”est school (Mujtaba & Reiss, 2016). Because of the lack of support they receive growing up, many female students are often fearful of failing in a STEM pathway. This early exposure to sexed stereotypes affects female students’ perceptions of STEM fields and their own abilities to be successful in STEM pathways. Another factor that deters female students from pursuing STEM fields is self-doubt and fear. Often times, female students believe they lack comparable skills to their male counterparts and therefore see themselves as unable to be successful in STEM fields (Piatek-Jiminez et al., 2018; Wieselmann et al., 2017). Furthermore, a lack of hands-on, real-world application of STEM fields in the classroom have added to the reluctance of female students toward pursuing STEM fields (Christensen & Knezek, 2017; Wieselmann et al., 2017). These factors can become nonexistent if current educators and parents begin to encourage and promote interest in STEM pathways to female students. Encouraging Factors Despite the number of discouraging factors, there are many factors that can be implemented in classrooms and at home to retain and encourage more female students to pursue STEM fields. These factors include mentorship, teacher influence, parental knowledge of STEM resources, and a focused curriculum. First and foremost, teachers and parents should encourage interest in STEM fields early; the earlier female students can get hooked on a STEM pathway, the more likely they are to retain that interest. Once female students have shown interest in a STEM field, the next question is how to retain and promote that interest. One idea is to enroll female students in informal STEM camps, which promote STEM fields and careers. Additionally, current teachers have the opportunity to make a huge impact on their students in the classroom. Teachers should encourage and challenge female students with real-world and meaningful experiences and projects. Female students typically thrive with projects and experiences where they can make a difference in society. Therefore, including projects that provide female students with experiences or projects that impact their community will be worthwhile. These types of projects will build female students’ confidence and trust in their ability to be successful in STEM fields. Furthermore, these positive learning experiences will translate into positive perceptions toward STEM fields (Roberts et al., 2018). Even though not all students will choose a STEM field, it is the responsibility of the teacher to find ways to cultivate and reinforce STEM field interest in order to provide students with the various opportunities available in these worthwhile fields (Heaverlo et al., 2013). Teachers can do this through the implementation of STEM project-based learning (PBL) activities, STEM-related field trips, and STEM professional speakers. Retaining Female Students’ Int“her”est 159  Ideas for Implementing STEM PBL in the Classroom STEM PBL activities offer a unique opportunity in the classroom by Note: There are providing insight into real-world experiences that are valuable and various ideas essential. Prior research has shown that female students who engage in teachers can STEM PBL activities increase their interest toward STEM fields and often easily implement reach similar levels of desires to pursue STEM pathways as their male to challenge, but peers (Christensen & Knezek, 2017). A key characteristic of PBL lies in also support and connecting technical learning to solving real problems, a key motivator encourage, female students to for female students as a group. As such, PBL provides a highly effective engage in STEM strategy for engaging female students in the learning process and PBL activities. enhancing their learning gains. Building a PBL The key elements and structure of what makes a good PBL activity remains the same, and the steps and issues presented in Chapter 4: Engineering Better Projects still apply. However, teachers can proactively consider how to best challenge and encourage their female students while they build and implement their PBL lesson. 1. Identify a meaningful real-world problem: In PBL, students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, problem, or challenge. It can be even more powerful when the project has a personal meaning or connection to the students. For female students, research has shown this to be even more significant, particularly when the problems are those that impact whole communities or segments of the population. Utilizing a kick-off event becomes key to engaging the students. It is also important not to use or find projects “that women would like,” such as projects focused on cooking or make-up development, as those can be seen as condescending. By no means are cooking or make-up projects intrinsically poor choices, but the motivation when presenting the problem must show how this is a meaningful project for a wider group. 160 Retaining Female Students’ Int“her”est 2. Incorporate student voice and choice as appropriate: In terms of making a project feel meaningful to students, the more voice and choice, the better. However, teachers should design projects with the extent of student choice that fits their own style and students. On the limited-choice end of the scale, learners can select how to design, create, and present products. This must still provide students room to explore the “ill- defined task” as they work to create their “well-defined product.” As a middle ground, teachers might incorporate student input on the criteria that need to be met for the final product. On the far end of the scale, students can decide what resources they will use and how they will structure their time as well as help define what their well-defined product should be. 3. Emphasize creativity and exploration of alternatives: Creativity is necessary for engaging with the STEM-related problems and challenges that encompass everyday life (Runco, 2014). Research has defined creativity as approaching a problem in a manner that is new and useful (Batey, 2012; Batey & Furnham, 2006; Kaufmann & Baer, 2012; Mumford, 2003; Runco, 2007) for generating novel ideas, solutions, or answers (Duff et al., 2013) as related to problem solving (Crilly, 2010; Lewis, 2005; Smith, 2013). Accordingly, creative thinking is very helpful for determining new solutions to unexpected difficulties or problems, which is an inherent part of PBL. However, some students may not see how creativity fits within the project or see exploration as a positive experience. As part of the kick-off event, explicit discussion with the students regarding how creativity will factor into the process and be part of the project assessment can be highly empowering. This is particularly true for female students, as it frees them from trying to pursue a solution or design process that has likely been developed by males. This can free them to be innovators and be seen as such by their peers. The more creative female students consider themselves to be, the more likely they are to imagine a career in a STEM-related field. Retaining Female Students’ Int“her”est 161 Additional Strategies to Explicitly Incorporate into PBL 1. Provide opportunity for mastery experiences: Female students frequently underestimate their abilities, especially as they get older. It is important to help them recognize what they can do and to recognize their work. This can easily be incorporated into formative assessments, both formal and informal. It is important that the feedback be honest and meaningful, and ideally it should come from both the instructor as well as student peers. As part of this process, have students take ownership of their decisions, help them with language so that they can advocate for themselves, and make this an explicit part of the learning objectives. 2. Provide students opportunities to learn from observing others and finding role models and mentors to inspire them: Female role models and mentors can help female students see themselves as future STEM professionals. Seeing female role models and mentors in action inspires female students. Educators can use STEM professionals and their experiences to create meaningful, engaging units of studies for students. This can be done be inviting STEM professionals to visit the class to launch the project, either in person or virtually, or through videos. 3. Provide opportunities for female students to be recognized as innovators: It is important to empower female students to lead teams so boys and girls alike recognize them as creators. While one approach would be to designate a female student as the team leader, this frequently does not have positive results because the team’s dynamics may “elect” a different student as the leader. Instead, it is more important to take care while building teams so that females students feel they have the space to take a leadership role. One approach is to ensure that no group has only one female student. A good rule of thumb is to have at least 1/3 of a group be composed of female students. However, some male students are also good advocates for their female peers and so can be paired with female students and mitigate potential problems. It can also be a powerful model within a classroom for their peers to see a group of all female students succeed in creating innovative PBL solutions, so educators may consider creating at least some all-female groups, particularly if the class demographics will naturally result in some groups being composed of all male students. 162 Retaining Female Students’ Int“her”est  21st Century Skills and STEM PBL Recently, 21st century learning has become an important discussion topic. Students need a different skill set to be successful in their future careers (Alismail & McGuire, 2015; Battelle for Kids, 2019). The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has promoted the learning of the four Cs of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity in conjunction with traditional education (Alismail & McGuire, 2015; Andrade, 2016). To support these skills, education must transform from imparting knowledge in traditional ways to more student- centered learning strategies that engage students and enlist them to take ownership of their learning (Andrade, 2016). Jacobson-Lundeberg (2016) found that “twenty-first century skills can easily be taught and embedded into core curriculum” without sacrificing the standards (p. 83). Educational organizations such as the National Council of Social Studies, the National Science Teachers Association, the National Council of Mathematics, and the National Council of Teachers of English all support the requirement to cultivate curricula that incorporate 21st century skills, such as PBL. (Johnson, 2009). As Barron and Darling-Hammond (2008) stated, “To develop these higher-order skills, students need to take part in complex, meaningful projects that require sustained engagement, collaboration, research, management of resources, and the development of an ambitious performance or product” (p. 2). Another sentiment regarding the importance of the 21st century skills is this: “To successfully face rigorous higher-education coursework and a globally competitive work environment, schools must align classroom environments and core subjects with 21st century skills” (Johnson, 2009, p. 11). This incorporation of core curriculum and 21st century skill development necessitates educators to change their pedagogical strategies. There are numerous strategies that must be integrated and tasks faced when implementing PBL, including collaboration, classroom management, and curriculum expertise. Sometimes these can be overpowering and difficult for teachers. Collaboration is an essential part of PBL, and teachers must develop the 21st century skills so that students learn how to collaborate productively, doing so with the confidence to let it occur in a way that creates learning content and builds collaboration skills (Barron & Darling- Hammond, 2008; Tamim & Grant, 2013). Engaging students with projects within the classroom, Retaining Female Students’ Int“her”est 163 maintaining student interest, providing support, and troubleshooting issues all play a part (Tamim & Grant, 2013) and will affect teachers’ implementation of PBL within classrooms. Teachers thus need to have an in-depth knowledge of the subject to allow for student exploration through a PBL opportunity (Tamim & Grant, 2013). Conclusion Despite female students’ underrepresentation in certain STEM fields and careers, there are many opportunities to encourage and retain female students’ interest in STEM fields. First, it starts with parents encouraging children to have interest in STEM fields. Next, it falls to the teachers to cultivate and nourish all students’ interest in STEM fields by integrating valuable and essential STEM PBL activities into the curriculum. There are various ways to integrate STEM PBL activities that will promote and retain female students’ interest, such as selecting and/or creating appropriate STEM PBL activities that challenge and encourage female students and being purposeful when creating groups for STEM PBL activities. Finally, it is important to encourage the development of 21st century skills in the classroom to ensure that students are ready for the workforce. Reflection Questions and Activities 1) Why else do you think female students do not pursue science or mathematics-intensive majors? What can you do to help change this? 2) What are some methods teachers can implement to encourage or retain female students’ interest towards STEM fields? 3) How can teachers vary STEM PBL activities to ensure female students are being challenged and encouraged? 4) Why are 21st century skills important for STEM PBL activities? 5) What is one thing you feel confident about implementing right now to encourage and retain female students’ interest in STEM fields? 6) Please answer true or false for each statement: a) The sex gap in STEM AP Exams is on the downward trend. b) More male students graduate with degrees in psychology than female students. c) Teachers have a huge impact on students’ perceptions of STEM fields. d) One method of encouraging female students to pursue STEM fields is to include STEM PBL projects that are meaningful and add value to society. e) Twenty-first century skills are hard to incorporate and teach in the core curriculum. 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