An Exploration of Critical Incidents Impacting Female Students’ Attitude Towards STEM Subjects

Abstract

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) subjects are extremely important to any nation's economy. For society to flourish sustainably there should be equal involvement of men and women in these professions. Even though the number of women in STEM areas has increased over the past several decades, there is still a sizable underrepresentation of women overall and in key positions. In the winter term 2020/21, among all the 1,090,804 students in STEM subjects at German universities, only 347,197 were female students (31,8%) (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2022). According to research by Corbett and Hill (2015), the following factors limit girls and women from majoring, for example, in computer science: Cultural prejudices, gender biases, and microinequities (subtle discriminatory actions) all contribute to a lack of sense of belonging in these sectors.

Overall, this study aims to better understand the key situations that affect girls' and young women's decision for or against a career in STEM. In particular, the research is interested in finding out about subtle or obvious discriminatory but also facilitating actions which influence attitude towards STEM subjects. An online questionnaire was distributed to a student panel via a market research institute, which was answered by 777 German female students aged 16-20 years in May 2022. The questionnaire collected female students’ memorable positive and negative critical incidents which had an impact on their attitude towards STEM subjects. On the one hand, female students reported a learning environment in school leading to fear, frustration or anxiety which result into them questioning their math or science competence. On the other hand, female students also reported very positive, memorable experiences and appraisal situations in and offsite the classroom which increase their positive attitude about STEM subjects and might lead to a future career choice in a STEM subject. The authors hope to spark a conversation about how institutions might better tailor their offers to a female audience.