Will We Ever Close the Gender Gap Among Top Mathematics Achievers? Analysis of Recent Trends by Race in Advanced Placement (AP) Exams

Analyzing the test scores of more than 10,000,000 students who participated in the Advanced Placement (AP) math exams from 1997 to 2019, this study examined the direction and magnitude of the trend in gender disparity by race in participation in and top achievement on AP Calculus AB, Calculus BC, and Statistics exams. The results of this study indicated that, in general, females’ representation in all three AP exams increased significantly. Although the findings indicated that the female-to-male ratios (FMRs) in participation in the AP math exams increased significantly from 1997 to 2019 and favored females for all races, the gender disparities among top achievers for all math exams are still substantial. The relationships between the FMRs in participation and top achievement for all AP math exams were also analyzed within races, and the possible impacts of these findings within the context of the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields were also discussed.

Trends in Gender Disparities Among High-Achieving Students in Mathematics: An Analysis of the American Mathematics Competition (AMC)

Gifted Child Quarterly ◽

10.1177/0016986220960453 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 001698622096045

Author(s):

A. Kadir Bahar

Keyword(s):

Test Scores ◽

Gender Disparity ◽

Gender Disparities ◽

Female Ratio ◽

High Achieving Students ◽

Science Technology ◽

Increasing Trend ◽

And Mathematics ◽

Male To Female

Using the test scores of more than 2,250,000 students who participated in the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) from 2009 to 2019, this study examined the direction and magnitude of the trends in gender disparity in participation and high achievement in self-select mathematics exams. The results of this study indicated that the male to female ratio among the AMC participants increased significantly from 2009 to 2019. The findings also showed an established disparity that favored males for each year and for all competitions in both the top 1% and 5% levels, while the trend in the male to female ratios over a decade was stable, except for the top 1% of the population in the AMC 8, in which there was a significant increasing trend that favored males. The possible impacts of these findings within the context of the underrepresentation of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields are discussed.

Using Video to Increase Gender Bias Literacy Toward Women in Science

Psychology of Women Quarterly ◽

10.1177/0361684316674721 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

pp. 175-196 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Evava S. Pietri ◽

Corinne A. Moss-Racusin ◽

John F. Dovidio ◽

Dipika Guha ◽

Gina Roussos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gender Bias ◽

Women In Science ◽

Mathematics Interventions ◽

Gender Inequity ◽

Unfair Treatment ◽

Science Technology ◽

Gender Biases ◽

Expert Interview ◽

Despite evidence that gender biases contribute to the persistent underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, interventions that enhance gender bias literacy about these fields remain rare. The current research tested the effectiveness of two theoretically grounded sets of videos at increasing gender bias literacy as characterized by (a) awareness of bias, (b) knowledge of gender inequity, (c) feelings of efficacy at being able to notice bias, and (d) recognition and confrontation of bias across situations. The narrative videos utilized entertaining stories to illustrate gender bias, while the expert interview videos discussed the same bias during an interview with a psychology professor. The narrative videos increased participants’ immersion in the story and identification with characters, whereas the expert interviews promoted logical thinking and perceptions of being knowledgeable about gender bias facts. Compared with control videos, the narrative and expert interview videos increased awareness of bias (Experiments 1 and 2) and influenced knowledge of gender inequity, self-efficacy beliefs, and the recognition of bias in everyday situations (Experiment 2). However, only the expert interview videos affected participants’ intentions to confront unfair treatment. Additional online materials for this article are available to PWQ subscribers on PWQ’s website at http://pwq.sagepub.com/supplemental

One Size Does Not Fit All: Gender Inequity in STEM Varies Between Subfields

Industrial and Organizational Psychology ◽

10.1017/iop.2018.21 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 314-318 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Stefanie Gisler ◽

Anne E. Kato ◽

Soohyun Lee ◽

Desmond W. Leung

Keyword(s):

Gender Gap ◽

Software Engineer ◽

Gender Disparities ◽

Stem Fields ◽

Gender Inequity ◽

Individual Level ◽

Science Technology ◽

Effective Interventions ◽

We wholeheartedly agree with Miner et al. (2018) that industrial and organizational (I-O) psychologists should take a lead in addressing gender inequity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The focal article is particularly timely in light of the recent controversial “Google memo” (Damore, 2017), in which a senior software engineer endorsed the same individual-level myths regarding the gender gap in STEM that were critiqued by Miner et al. (2018). However, we caution against painting all STEM fields with the same broad brush. We argue that it is critical for I-O psychologists to be aware of important differences between STEM subfields, as these distinctions suggest that a “one-size-fits-all” approach may be inadequate for addressing existing gender disparities in STEM. In order to be maximally effective, interventions may need to emphasize distinct issues and target different points in the career pipeline depending on the specific STEM subfield in question.

A “Scientific Diversity” Intervention to Reduce Gender Bias in a Sample of Life Scientists

CBE—Life Sciences Education ◽

10.1187/cbe.15-09-0187 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. ar29 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Corinne A. Moss-Racusin ◽

Jojanneke van der Toorn ◽

John F. Dovidio ◽

Victoria L. Brescoll ◽

Mark J. Graham ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gender Bias ◽

Life Sciences ◽

Women In Science ◽

Summer Institute ◽

Science Technology ◽

Gender Biases ◽

Participation Of Women ◽

And Mathematics ◽

Science Instructors

Mounting experimental evidence suggests that subtle gender biases favoring men contribute to the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), including many subfields of the life sciences. However, there are relatively few evaluations of diversity interventions designed to reduce gender biases within the STEM community. Because gender biases distort the meritocratic evaluation and advancement of students, interventions targeting instructors’ biases are particularly needed. We evaluated one such intervention, a workshop called “Scientific Diversity” that was consistent with an established framework guiding the development of diversity interventions designed to reduce biases and was administered to a sample of life science instructors (N = 126) at several sessions of the National Academies Summer Institute for Undergraduate Education held nationwide. Evidence emerged indicating the efficacy of the “Scientific Diversity” workshop, such that participants were more aware of gender bias, expressed less gender bias, and were more willing to engage in actions to reduce gender bias 2 weeks after participating in the intervention compared with 2 weeks before the intervention. Implications for diversity interventions aimed at reducing gender bias and broadening the participation of women in the life sciences are discussed.

Women and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)

The Oxford Handbook of Women and the Economy ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190628963.013.13 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 766-798

Author(s):

Shulamit Kahn ◽

Donna Ginther

Keyword(s):

Role Models ◽

Physical Science ◽

Women In Science ◽

Stem Fields ◽

Engineering Economics ◽

Science Technology ◽

Women And Science ◽

And Mathematics ◽

Gendered Stereotypes

Researchers from economics, sociology, psychology, and other disciplines have studied the persistent underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This chapter summarizes this research. It argues that women’s underrepresentation is concentrated in the math-intensive science fields of geosciences, engineering, economics, math/computer science, and physical science. Its analysis concentrates on the environmental factors that influence ability, preferences, and the rewards for those choices. The chapter examines how gendered stereotypes, culture, role models, competition, risk aversion, and interests contribute to the gender STEM gap, starting in childhood, solidifying by middle school, and affecting women and men as they progress through school and higher education and into the labor market. The results are consistent with preferences and psychological explanations for the underrepresentation of women in math-intensive STEM fields.

Socio-cultural developments of women in science

Pure and Applied Chemistry ◽

10.1515/pac-2021-0104 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Rachel Mamlok-Naaman

Keyword(s):

Gender Gap ◽

Women Scientists ◽

Faculty Members ◽

Women In Science ◽

Educational Organizations ◽

Unconscious Bias ◽

Science Technology ◽

The World ◽

Family Demands ◽

Abstract Women have not been represented enough in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines in most countries around the world, despite their advancements in these areas. Unfortunately, they continue to represent only a small proportion of faculty members in science and technology fields, especially at more prestigious research institutions. Women still need to cope with discrimination, with an unconscious bias, as well as with family demands. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, fewer than 30 % researchers from all over the world are women. Analysis of “A Global Approach to the Gender Gap in Mathematical, Computing, and Natural Sciences, How to measure it? How to reduce it?” survey advanced our understanding of this phenomenon and identified various factors that cause it. The recommendations address a variety of groups: instructors and parents of girls in primary, secondary, and higher education, educational organizations, scientific unions. and other worldwide organizations. This paper will describe the situation of women scientists in Israel, with examples of chemistry women in the academia.

First-mover Advantage Explains Gender Disparities in Physics Citations

10.21203/rs.3.rs-957696/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hyunsik Kong ◽

Samuel Martin-Gutierrez ◽

Fariba Karimi

Keyword(s):

Citation Network ◽

Gender Disparity ◽

Gender Disparities ◽

Men And Women ◽

Science Technology ◽

Gender Biases ◽

First Mover Advantage ◽

Measure Of Similarity ◽

And Mathematics ◽

First Mover

Abstract Mounting evidence suggests that publications and citations of scholars in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) suffer from gender biases. In this paper, we study the physics community, a core STEM field in which women are still largely under-represented and where these gender disparities persist. To reveal such inequalities, we compare the citations received by papers led by men and women that cover the same topics in a comparable way. To do that, we devise a robust statistical measure of similarity between publications that enables us to detect pairs of similar papers. Our findings indicate that although papers written by women tend to have lower visibility in the citation network, pairs of similar papers written by men and women receive comparable attention when corrected for the time of publication. These analyses suggest that gender disparity is closely related to the first-mover and cumulative advantage that men have in physics and is not an intentional act of discrimination towards women.

Forum theatre as a tool for unveiling gender issues in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) working environments

Geoscience Communication ◽

10.5194/gc-4-83-2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 83-93

Author(s):

Susanne Taina Ramalho Maciel ◽

Caroline Siqueira Gomide ◽

Thatianny Alves de Lima Silva ◽

Gustavo Braga Alcântara ◽

Cynara Kern ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Real Life ◽

Gender Issues ◽

Women In Science ◽

Theatre Of The Oppressed ◽

Augusto Boal ◽

Working Environments ◽

Science Technology ◽

Problems And Solutions ◽

Abstract. Gender affects all aspects of life, and the working and learning environments of science, technology, engineering and geosciences present no exception. Gender issues concerning the access, permanence and ascension of women in exact sciences and Earth sciences careers in general are related to a variety of causes. The underrepresentation of women in science communications, sexual or moral harassment caused by professors and colleagues during undergraduate and graduate ages or the overloading of girls, when compared to boys, with housework during early school ages are some examples mentioned in the literature. In other words, the gender imbalance in science and technology careers may be seen as the result of a series of structured oppression suffered by women of all ages. In this context, we propose the development of an education package that is designed to understand these processes at different levels. One of the tools of this package is known as the “Theatre of the Oppressed”. Elaborated on by Augusto Boal in the 1970s, the Theatre of the Oppressed uses theatre techniques as a means of promoting social and political changes. Usually, a scene takes place that reveals a situation of oppression. The audience become what is called “spect-actors”, where they become active by exploring, showing and transforming the reality in which they are living. In the context of gender issues in exact sciences careers, the students can stage situations that reveal the subtle actions of power relations that usually put women in subservient positions. Our experience showed that, even though the acting is based on fiction, the spectators learn a great deal from the enactment because the simulation of real-life situations, problems and solutions stimulates the practice of resisting oppression in reality from within a setting that offers a safe space to practise making a change.

The Relationship Between Advanced Placement Mathematics Courses and Students’ STEM Career Interest

Educational Researcher ◽

10.3102/0013189x19825811 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 48 (2) ◽

pp. 101-111 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Russell T. Warne ◽

Gerhard Sonnert ◽

Philip M. Sadler

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Advanced Placement ◽

Career Interest ◽

Mathematics Courses ◽

Science Technology ◽

Ap Calculus ◽

Stem Career ◽

Using Data ◽

And Mathematics ◽

The Relationship

Increasing the number of students choosing a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) career is a national educational priority. One way thought to increase interest in STEM is with advanced STEM courses in high school, especially Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Using data from 15,847 college undergraduates, we investigated the relationship between participation in AP mathematics courses (AP Calculus and AP Statistics) and student career interest in STEM. After controlling for covariates, the strongest effect ( d = 0.13) showed that students who took AP Calculus had a modestly higher career interest in engineering and mathematics/computer science. However, the relationship between most AP mathematics courses and most STEM career outcomes was negligible. Most differences in outcomes between AP and non-AP students are likely due to preexisting differences between the two groups.

Empowerment of women in Science: Myth or Reality

Bionatura ◽

10.21931/rb/2019.04.01.2 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Hortensia M. Rodríguez Cabrera

Keyword(s):

Gender Gap ◽

Sustainable Growth ◽

Women In Science ◽

Financial Control ◽

Economic Empowerment ◽

Political Equality ◽

Science Technology ◽

Participation Of Women ◽

Professional Environment ◽

Recent history shows that nothing has been given to women. Every step taken in the way of the tireless task of achieving than what is fair has been synonymous of strikes, mobilization and daring, in addition to countless repressive demonstrations against the pioneers in the development of labor and social policies for the workers. Latest studies show that while political equality could be achieved in just over a century, projections for women economic empowerment, from salaries to financial control over assets, are two centuries. 1 However, what about women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)? Taking into account that it is precisely in this area where future jobs and sustainable growth appear to be found, the search for solutions to the gender gap in STEM is more relevant. Although in recent years the participation of women in the scientific-technological professional environment has increased, there is still an under-representation. We have been the great ones forgotten or omitted, but women have also had, we have, and we will have much to say in terms of science.