Ayeni 1

Oluwadunni Ayeni

Pre-English

Ms. Szybisty

August 11 2017.

Audience Analysis

This paper addresses technological experts who have sought ways to attract women into the field
of STEM but assume their low mathematical abilities have prevented them from pursuing a
STEM career. The definite reason this assumption is made is unknown, however it can be said
that gender role conventions have made it seem like women are only suited for a particular type
of profession or a career field such as nursing and teaching. As more women go into these fields,
other women are compelled to delve into them, especially if other fields like STEM look
intimidating because it is male dominated or associated with gender stereotypes. This paper will
make experts in the field of STEM realize that women are not hindered by their mathematical
abilities, but rather what STEM is generally accepted for. Through this paper, they will discover
the factors that cause womens underrepresentation in STEM, and how these factors have
influenced their decisions to stay in a safe zone in terms of their career choices. These experts
will realize, through this paper, how to correct these problems to attract more women into
STEM. This paper also addresses undergraduate female students interested in the field of STEM,
and women already in the field. Potential STEM female undergrads are mostly affected by the
claims this paper makes because they have the desire to have a career in the field, but are limited
because of the standards already set by the society as to what STEM is and who is capable of
seeing through it. Women already established in STEM may opt out or give up their passion for
this field, but this paper explains why what they do is not because of what experts think it is.
Overall, this paper seeks to unveil the odds of STEM which has caused womens
underrepresentation, which consequently, will prompt STEM experts to make a change.
 Ayeni 2

Gender Representation: The Growing Concern in STEM

The field of STEM is known to be majorly male-dominated, with men making up over

70%, and women being 29% of the overall STEM workforce (National Girls Collaborative

Project 2016). STEM experts have attempted ways to attract more women into STEM field, since

they make only but a small percentage of the workforce. A rising question they ask is if women

are hindered from delving into STEM because of their poor knowledge of math as STEM is very

math intensive, and math serves as a gateway for every other science and engineering courses.

But does that make the assumption of womens underrepresentation in STEM as a result of

mathematical ability feasible?

STEM refers to the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, and

much of everyday living evolves around the innovations made possible by the findings and

technology put in place by expertise in these fields. The advancements seen in the world today:

modern materials, better research and discoveries, ability to predict the future, are all as a result

of the ever-growing world of STEM. As these fields grow, more people are needed to meet the

demands of the increasing workforce. Math has been a tool of relevance in all STEM fields

because of its problem-solving abilities; the basis for STEM existence. Since math is dreaded by

many students, it becomes a turn-off for people to pursue STEM related career. So, STEM

experts research whether womens math abilities prevent them from pursuing a career in STEM.

However, it has not been confirmed that women have low mathematical abilities, in fact,

according to American Psychological Association, men and women share cognitive skills that

make them fit to excel in math, at the same rate, with very little distinctions (APA August 2014)

Nevertheless, women have been brainwashed that STEM is not for them and unfortunately,

many potential STEM females have submitted to this assumption. Therefore, it matters to change
 Ayeni 3

their mindsets for their tenacities to be restored to encourage themselves and others coming after

them to pursue whatever STEM career goal they have in mind without restraint. This will in turn,

diversify the STEM workforce and ultimately, reduce the gender gap of STEM fields; a step

towards equality women advocate for today.

This paper addresses why womens underrepresentation in STEM is not as a result of

their mathematical abilities. With this established, this paper will go on to discuss an underlying

cause which is female stereotypes and threats, and how it facilitates womens disinterest in

STEM. This paper will further discuss the masculinity of STEM majors and how it affects

womens desire to pursue STEM careers. This paper will then analyze gender bias as being a

potential turn-off factor for women interested in STEM fields. This paper will examine

arguments that insist that womens mathematical abilities cause their marginalization in STEM,

and this paper will disprove the assumptions made. Ultimately, the goal of this paper is to convey

that Womens Underrepresentation in STEM is as a result of stereotype threats from gender role

assumptions, masculinity of the field of STEM and gender bias of women specifically in their

levels of education.

To start with, women have always been subject to negative stereotypes, and sadly for

women in STEM, it is no different. It is assumed that women have less academic success

compared to high achieving men that go into STEM fields, and that men are worth more in

STEM in terms of workability and earnings. The stereotypes have become a threat, according to

Shapiro Jenessa, a member of the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Los

Angeles, which makes women more conscious of their actions as though they are being watched

and judged on every move they make. This also undermines their performances in stereotype-

intense domains. (Shapiro et al, 175). When women are made conscious of their
 Ayeni 2

gender as a measure of intellectual abilities, such as their performances on a test being compared

to mens performances on this same test, it becomes a threat to them, and prevents them from

performing well like they would have done when not informed of the differences in the previous

test taken. Shapiro Jenessa and Williams Amy call this an Evaluation Pressure, which causes

women to believe they lack intellectual ability, according to the stereotypes, and their conformity

to these standards lower their performances.

Shapiro Jenessa examines a survey which analyzes data from an AP calculus AB

exam in which the students were asked to report their gender before or after the test. Those who

reported their gender before the AP Calculus exam performed 33% lesser than those who

reported their gender after the same exam. In another study however, females were told to think

about similar characteristics between men and women before a difficult test, and these group of

women performed better than the group that were told not to do this (Shapiro et al, 176, 178).

Steinberg Julia, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and his colleagues

from Arizona State University, conduct an experiment where they observe whether the effect of

stereotype threat on female college students affected their calculus performances. In this

experiment, they discover that female students with high GPAs and a sense of math

identification, are usually affected by the stereotype threat. Women who are on the higher level

than the other of one of these characteristics also responded negatively to this stereotype threat

(Steinberg et al 538,541). These show how negatively effective stereotype threats have been in

discouraging women from pursuing a career in STEM.

In addition to stereotype threats women face, women also face exclusion as a result of the

masculinity of STEM fields. Masculinity is seen as the social and structural environment that

confers a greater sense of belonging and ability to succeed to men than women (Cheryan Sapna
 Ayeni 3

et al 8). This means that men in an academic or career domain are seen as more capable to

succeed than their female counterparts. This also means that in STEM fields, men are more

regarded because of the quality they possess, and are therefore thought to be more suited for

STEM careers. Masculinity of STEM mostly affects womens, Sense of Belonging, which

according to Good Catherine, a professor at the Baruch College, City University of New York,

Rattan Aneeta and Dweck Carol, professors of Stanford University, is seen as a personal belief

that one is an accepted member of an academic community whose presence and contributions are

valued (Good Catherine et al 701). They claim when an individuals sense of belonging is

reduced, women aspiring to have a career in STEM in this case, they may become discouraged

and opt out even when they are high-achieving students. STEM has been designed to look like

only men have the capability to take on the challenges in these fields, and when females

interested in these fields feel like their efforts are not going to be recognized, this, according to

Good, disrupts more than performance (Good et al, 701). That is, not only does this affect their

grade performances in STEM courses, but also reduces their attractiveness to STEM. Good and

her colleagues also study how important sense of belonging is to determine ones intent to pursue

STEM careers. For this study, they utilize a 28-item Sense of Belonging Math scale (Good et

al 707). The findings on this study show that when women hear that they have less ability than

men in their math domain, their sense of belonging to math crumbles and so is their intent to

purse any math intensive career like STEM. Furthermore, associating STEM with men make

women feel as though it will be difficult to fit into the standards of the STEM field that less

favor their gender, so, they become compelled to go into fields that will favor them more

(Cheryan Sapna et al 6). Certain traits men possess are also attributed to STEM, and women,

interested in STEM fields, who do not want to identify with these traits, find it difficult to fit in
 Ayeni 2

STEM. These traits are often portrayed as men playing logical games, building objects, fixing

technical faults, and handling computer issues (Cheryan et al 8). These traits have been termed

unwomanly and therefore discourage women, especially because of fear of being judged by a

significant order in a relationship. This belief stems from the societal expectation of women to

get married and start a family (Cheryan et al 10,11).

Another factor that discourages women from the field of STEM is gender bias. Gender

Bias in this case refers to unfair treatment of women because of being female (Robnett 70), and

this is the direct implication of the masculinity of STEM fields mentioned previously. Gender

bias is usually more prominent for women in higher levels of STEM education such as PHD

candidates, and also for women already in STEM fields (Cheryan et al 12). Women in math

intensive fields reportedly face more gender bias than females in life sciences and non-math

oriented fields (Robnett 74). Robnett Racheal of the Department of Psychology at the University

of Nevada, Las Vegas, according to his study, reports that women in graduate level STEM

programs are faced with male peers who believe they are in the program because of female

privileges, rather than their academic abilities (Robnett 73). This, according to Robnett,

frustrates women as they feel as though they are lesser in competency than their male peers.

Consequently, this gradually reduces womens interest eventually causing them to pursue

another field of study. In addition, gender bias causes discrimination which could be that women

are denied awareness of opportunities that are helpful to their education and life in general. They

could also receive a less preferential treatment by parents, teachers, and employees, compared to

how their male peers would be treated. Gender bias is so common that women determined to

pursue a STEM career expect to get discriminated at a point in time in their career, and their

assumptions are usually right as they encounter discrimination a few notable times throughout
 Ayeni 3

the course of their careers. This bias becomes an obstacle for women to attain success in their

chosen STEM careers because they believe they would not get adequate opportunities they need

to be acknowledged in their fields, and this could lower their morale to continue in the STEM

line.

It may however be argued that womens underrepresentation in STEM is as a result of

lack of confidence in their mathematical capabilities. Ellis Jessica, member of the department of

mathematics at the Colorado State University, and her colleagues believe this to be true as they

claim women leave STEM educational line after taking calculus 1; a math course which serves

as a gateway to test ones ability to carry on in studying any course in STEM, because of the lack

of confidence in their abilities to complete calculus 1 (Ellis et al 9). In some cases, this point of

view is understandable, especially since there are also women interested in STEM fields with the

hope of honing their mathematical skills as they advance in education, but give up along the way

because they are unable to meet the standards of classes like calculus. Notwithstanding,

confidence in this context can be corrected to mean that women do not feel enough pressure to

work harder and do better at math (Steinberg et al 542). There are prominent situations where

women get encouraged to be confident and better at mathematics because of the desire to

develop a sense of identity with the STEM domain they are in (Jackson et al 74). Also, women

with low calculus grades are reportedly motivated to work harder and perform well as an effort

to fit in the ideal STEM domain (Steinberg et al 541). It is also worthy to note that this paper

does not assert that the women currently in STEM fields are in there because of their genius

mathematical abilities, in fact, women are more likely to go into STEM fields because of their

desire to get better at math.

 Ayeni 2

Overall, there is a good number of women going into STEM careers successfully, but

technology experts still seek to attract more women into STEM fields. Women have, however,

not being drawn away from STEM because of their mathematical abilities as they presume. The

factors that discourage women from STEM are stereotype threats from comparison with men,

association of STEM fields with men only, and gender bias especially in their educational

phases. Nevertheless, women can be encouraged to go into STEM when stereotypical beliefs are

shunned, and women currently in STEM fields are publicly recognized to serve as a role model

to other aspiring female STEM students. If these changes are not made, the claims this paper

makes can make STEM an uninviting, uncomfortable field and ultimately, cause them to find

another passion or leave the fields of STEM they are in.

 Ayeni 3

Bibliography

American Psychological Association Think Again: Men and Women Share Cognitive

Skills Psychology: Science in Action, www.apa.org/action/resources/research-in-

action/share.aspx, Accessed 6 August 2017.

Cheryan Sapna, Ziegler Sianna A, Montoya Amanda K, Jiang Lily Why Are Some

STEM Fields More Gender Balanced Than Others Psychological Bulletin,

vol.143, no.1, 2017, p 1-35.

Ellis Jessica, Fosdick Bailey, Rasmussen Chris Women are 1.5 Times More Likely to

Leave STEM Pipeline after Calculus Compared to Men: Lack of Mathematical

Confidence a Potential Culprit Plos one, vol.11, no.7, 2016, p 1-14.

Good Catherine, Rattan Aneeta, Dweck Carol Why do Women Opt Out? Sense of

Belonging and Womens Representation in Mathematics Journal of Personality

and Social Psychology, vol.102, no.4, 2012, p 700-717

Jackson Dimitra Lynette, Starobin Soko, Laanan Frankie Santos The Shared

Experiences: Facilitating Successful Transfer of Women and Underrepresented

Minorities in STEM fields New Directions for Higher Education, vol.2013,

no.162, p69-76.

National Girls Collaborative Project Statistics, State of Girls and Women in STEM,

www.ngcproject.org/statistics, Accessed 6 August 2017.

 Ayeni 2

Robnett Racheal D Gender Bias in STEM Psychology of Women Quarterly, vol.40,

no.1, 2016, p 65-79.

Shapiro Jenessa, Williams Amy The Role of Stereotype in Undermining Girls and

Womens Performance and Interest in STEM fields Sex Roles, vol.66, no.3-4,

2012, p 175-183.

Steinberg Julia, Okun Morris, Aiken Leona Calculus GPA and Math Identification as

Moderators of Stereotypes Threat in Highly Persistent Women Basic and

Applied Psychology, vol.34, no.6, 2012, p 534-543