Women in STEMTaylor Altizer & Paloma Franco

CCSD 562: Today’s College StudentProfessor Holly Holloway-Friesen

Are undergraduate women at a liberal arts university adequately supported in STEM programs compared to undergraduate women at a medium-sized polytechnic university?

Research Question:

At the polytechnic university, women in STEM organizations already existed, so the focus group was formed through contacting the presidents of these organizations. At the liberal arts university, women in STEM organizations do not exist, so connections were made through e-mail communication with students

Participants

“Brooke”-- 22, sophomore, Asian American, Math “Phoebe” -- 21, junior, Latina, civil engineering “Elena” -- 22, senior Latina, civil engineering

 

“Mindy” -- 20, Mexican, applied health major “Rachel” -- 20, Caucasian, applied health “Emily” -- 20, Latina, applied health “Caroline” -- 20, Mexican, clinical psychology

“Peyton” -- alumnus, 23, Caucasian“Jess”-- 21, senior, Caucasian, mathematics“Haley”-- 20, junior, Caucasian, biology

“Monica”-- alumnus, 26, Latina,

mathematics & secondary

teaching

ProcedureGrounded Theory Method

Materials10 interview questions

1-on-1: 4

11 women2 focus groups: 3 & 4

Difference between liberal arts and polytechnic universities

Key QuotesSelf-Efficacy

“I just knew I was really good at math, and I did well in math and I liked it, so I just chose civil engineering”

“because there aren’t a lot of us in um in the math program and, and so sometimes we feel like were like representing the women and um we want to represent them right”

Inspired to pursue STEM“I had a math teacher in high school um a female math teacher um who was just really awesome, she um she was a Christian and she um she was just so excited about math all the time she just really encouraged me my junior and senior year of high school to pursue something in math.”

“Um, for me it was my first internship, it was at a place that made uh catheters and I got to see all aspects of research and development and like their clinical development, all those different departments, and that really interested me in that area.”

Discrepancy between men and women

“sometimes it is harder for um for women to get um like the higher paying jobs in um in math and science um, I know there’s just not a lot of women who can do it and um, and we talked more about how like why, why it is that there’s not as many women in math and science and um a lot of the research shows that because um just because of how girls are like brought up like when they are little they would, they would play with dolls and kitchen sets and boys get to play with blocks and um and do a lot more spatial games and so it kind of like preps their minds for the physics and um the spatial awareness you need to uh to really like understand math and um and a lot of girls just don’t have that.”

“

Differences between Polytechnic & Liberal Arts Universities

“so I was really planning on being an athletic trainer until probably sophomore year of high school and then I went to Haiti um with a few other students not really through an organization on a missions trip but we just found an orphanage and went down for a trip and we visited a few public and private hospitals and I realized if I had the access to an education fairly easy and if I have the academic intelligence, why I would not try to get to the highest level of education to help the most amount of people that I can.”

“Yeah, I would say so um every time I went to uh women symposium where it was dedicated to stem major or a master symposium its just empowering just to go although I didn’t understand its just empowering just to see those examples of those women who are um who made it through and who are successful and good at what they were doing really empowered me.”

Desire for change and progress“I don’t think so, um, they’ve never um yeah, they’ve never brought anything like that up, yeah for math and physics, but that would be good to have. But yeah they, I don’t think we have one, I know that, I think they have one for like the biology department just because that is such a bigger department.”

AnalysisFrom Literature

From FG & Interviews

Defining STEMTrends of women in STEMPersistence and retentionSelf-efficacyVocations

Self-EfficacyInspired to pursue STEMDifferences between Polytechnic & Liberal Arts UniversitiesDiscrepancy between men and women Desire for change and progress

Limitations

Suggestions for Practice

Suggestions for Research

Welcoming environment for women in the classroomFemale role modelsSocieties/Clubs for women in STEM

TimeCal Poly Pomona not in sessionAccessing female students in STEM

Race and EthnicityReligion and SpiritualityInstitutional Differences

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