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Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering

Published 6 issues per year

ISSN Print: 1072-8325

ISSN Online: 1940-431X

SJR: 0.514 SNIP: 0.875 CiteScore™:: 2.4 H-Index: 27

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THE IMPORTANCE OF FIELD IN UNDERSTANDING PERSISTENCE AMONG SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING MAJORS

Volume 9, Issue 3&4, 2003, 14 pages
DOI: 10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.v9.i34.50
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ABSTRACT

Many contemporary studies of persistence in science and engineering majors find that students’ gender is an important explanatory variable in understanding why students leave and stay in their majors. This study revisits an earlier report by this author to explore the relative impact of gender on persistence when field of major is held constant, using the same data as the earlier work, drawing on survey responses from 285 students in required biology and engineering courses. The author argues two points: that effects of field on students’ persistence are often misinterpreted as gender effects and that gender is too often understood in the narrow sense of students’ sex. The author finds that when field is taken into account, students’ sex has little explanatory power for understanding persistence rates. In contrast, students’ positive experiences with and positive attitudes about gender equity significantly enhance commitments to science and engineering majors, advanced degrees, and careers. The results suggest the need for field-specific interventions to promote the advancement of undergraduate women in science and engineering.

CITED BY
  1. Wyer Mary, Murphy-Medley Deena, Damschen Ellen I., Rosenfeld Kristen M., Wentworth Thomas R., No Quick Fixes: Adding Content about Women to Ecology Course Materials, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31, 1, 2007. Crossref

  2. White Jeffry L., Altschuld James W., Lee Yi-Fang, Evaluating minority retention programs: Problems encountered and lessons learned from the Ohio science and engineering alliance, Evaluation and Program Planning, 31, 3, 2008. Crossref

  3. Lee Hang-Shim, Flores Lisa Y., Navarro Rachel L., Suh Han Na, Development and Validation of the Negative Outcome Expectations Scale in Engineering (NOES-E), Journal of Career Assessment, 26, 1, 2018. Crossref

  4. Mattos Cristiano, A Reflection on Research-Based Alternatives of Physics Teaching on Educational Activity System, in Upgrading Physics Education to Meet the Needs of Society, 2019. Crossref

  5. Damschen Ellen I., Rosenfeld Kristen M., Wyer Mary, Murphy-Medley Deena, Wentworth Thomas R., Haddad Nick M., Visibility matters: increasing knowledge of women's contributions to ecology, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 3, 4, 2005. Crossref

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