NSF Award
0327904
Seton Hall University will determine factors influencing the differential training and career patterns of women graduating in physics, engineering, and mathematics. The study will permit a comparison of the academic development, particularly at the graduate level, of women and men and will identify reasons for their different career choices.<br/><br/>The path from a bachelor's degree to a faculty position in STEM loses women every step of the way. Women are less likely to be awarded a doctorate degree in chemistry, physics, engineering, and mathematics than men. No research has examined explicitly the reasons for this under-representation of women among doctoral recipients.<br/><br/>A questionnaire will be sent to doctoral recipients who graduated during the years 1988-1992 from the top 10 ranked universities (as identified by the National Research Council) in physics, engineering, and mathematics. (A similar study of chemistry graduates is already underway.) These elite universities were chosen because their graduates have the greatest probability of being future leaders in science and technology in America. Participants will be asked to evaluate in detail their graduate training, identify the criteria used in making various choices, and state the reasons for their career decisions. In addition, quantitative data will be obtained for the first time regarding the number of employment positions sought and secured by graduates. In all analyses, the study will identify any statistically significant differences between the responses of women and men, as well as the magnitude of any differences.<br/><br/>Findings will be communicated widely and especially to the administrators at the elite academic institutions in the sample. The findings will potentially form the basis for thoughtful and critical discussion of the status of women, and will lead to institutional self evaluation and reform at the elite schools and others producing STEM graduates. The desired outcome is to decrease the under-utilization of women in academe and industry.
