The High School Environment and the Gender Gap in Science and Engineering

Autor/inn/en	Legewie, Joscha; DiPrete, Thomas A.
Titel	The High School Environment and the Gender Gap in Science and Engineering
Quelle	In: Sociology of Education, 87 (2014) 4, S.259-280 (22 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0038-0407
DOI	10.1177/0038040714547770
Schlagwörter	High School Students; Gender Differences; Achievement Gap; Educational Environment; Longitudinal Studies; Institutional Characteristics; Predictor Variables; School Effectiveness; Vocational Interests; Career Development; Effect Size; STEM Education; Outcome Measures; Predictive Measurement; Influences + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? High school; High schools; Student; Students; Oberschule; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin; Geschlechterkonflikt; Lernumgebung; Pädagogische Umwelt; Schulumwelt; Longitudinal study; Longitudinal method; Longitudinal methods; Längsschnittuntersuchung; Prädiktor; Schuleffizienz; Berufsinteresse; Berufsentwicklung; STEM; Influence; Einfluss; Einflussfaktor
Abstract	Despite the striking reversal of the gender gap in education, women pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees at much lower rates than those of their male peers. This study extends existing explanations for these gender differences and examines the role of the high school context for plans to major in STEM fields. Building on recent gender theories, we argue that widely shared and hegemonic gender beliefs manifest differently across schools so that the gender-specific formation of study plans is shaped by the local environment of high schools. Using the National Education Longitudinal Study, we first show large variations between high schools in the ability to attract students to STEM fields conditional on a large set of pre-high school measures. Schools that are successful in attracting students to these fields reduce the gender gap by 25 percent or more. As a first step toward understanding what matters about schools, we then estimate the effect of two concrete high school characteristics on plans to major in STEM fields in college--a high school's curriculum in STEM and gender segregation of extracurricular activities. These factors have a substantial effect on the gender gap in plans to major in STEM: a finding that is reaffirmed in a number of sensitivity analyses. Our focus on the high school context opens concrete avenues for policy intervention and is of central theoretical importance to understand the gender gap in orientations toward STEM fields. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10