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Growing the roots of STEM majors: Female math and science high school faculty and the participation of students in STEM

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  • Bottia, Martha Cecilia
  • Stearns, Elizabeth
  • Mickelson, Roslyn Arlin
  • Moller, Stephanie
  • Valentino, Lauren

Abstract

The underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is problematic given the economic and social inequities it fosters and the rising global importance of STEM occupations. This paper examines the role of the demographic composition of high school faculty—specifically the proportion of female high school math and science teachers—on college students’ decisions to declare and/or major in STEM fields. We analyze longitudinal data from students who spent their academic careers in North Carolina public secondary schools and attended North Carolina public universities. Our results suggest that although the proportion of female math and science teachers at a school has no impact on male students, it has a powerful effect on female students’ likelihood of declaring and graduating with a STEM degree, and effects are largest for female students with the highest math skills. The estimates are robust to the inclusion of controls for students’ initial ability.

Suggested Citation

  • Bottia, Martha Cecilia & Stearns, Elizabeth & Mickelson, Roslyn Arlin & Moller, Stephanie & Valentino, Lauren, 2015. "Growing the roots of STEM majors: Female math and science high school faculty and the participation of students in STEM," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 14-27.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:45:y:2015:i:c:p:14-27
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.01.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Laura R Jarboe, 2019. "Regional, institutional, and departmental factors associated with gender diversity among BS-level chemical and electrical engineering graduates," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(10), pages 1-14, October.
    2. Julia Philipp, 2023. "Gendered university major choice: the role of intergenerational transmission," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(2), pages 1049-1097, April.
    3. Olga Victoria Dulce Salcedo & Darío Maldonado & Fabio Sánchez, 2019. "¿Influencian mujeres a otras mujeres? El caso de las docentes en áreas STEM en Bogotá," Documentos de trabajo 17635, Escuela de Gobierno - Universidad de los Andes.
    4. Monique Löwe & Ulf Rinne & Hendrik Sonnabend, 2023. "Gender role models and early-career decisions," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(11), pages 1526-1530, June.
    5. Patricia K Hunt & Michelle Dong & Crystal M Miller, 2021. "A multi-year science research or engineering experience in high school gives women confidence to continue in the STEM pipeline or seek advancement in other fields: A 20-year longitudinal study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(11), pages 1-20, November.
    6. Dulce-Salcedo, Olga Victoria & Maldonado, Darío & Sánchez, Fabio, 2022. "Is the proportion of female STEM teachers in secondary education related to women’s enrollment in tertiary education STEM programs?," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    7. Anne Ardila Brenøe, 2022. "Brothers increase women’s gender conformity," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(4), pages 1859-1896, October.
    8. Margo Beck & Sara LaLumia, 2022. "Female Role Models and Labor Force Participation: The Case of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 48(4), pages 488-517, October.
    9. Aalto, Aino-Maija, 2020. "Do girls choose science when exposed to female science teachers?," Working Paper Series 2020:10, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    10. Rakshit, Sonali & Sahoo, Soham, 2023. "Biased teachers and gender gap in learning outcomes: Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    11. Arceo-Gomez, Eva O. & Campos-Vazquez, Raymundo M., 2022. "Gender Bias in Evaluation Processes," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    12. Bratti, Massimiliano & Lippo, Enrico, 2022. "COVID-19 and the Gender Gap in University Student Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 15456, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Mcnally, Sandra, 2020. "Gender differences in tertiary education: what explains STEM participation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108232, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Anne Ardila Brenøe, 2018. "Origins of gender norms: sibling gender composition and women's choice of occupation and partner," ECON - Working Papers 294, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    15. Agurto, M. & Bazan, M. & Hari, S. & Sarangi, S., 2021. "Women in Engineering: The Role of Role Models," GLO Discussion Paper Series 975, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    16. Liu, Jing & Conrad, Cameron & Blazar, David, 2024. "Computer Science for All? The Impact of High School Computer Science Courses on College Majors and Earnings," IZA Discussion Papers 16758, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Shulamit Kahn & Donna Ginther, 2017. "Women and STEM," NBER Working Papers 23525, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Geiger, Mark, 2020. "A meta-analysis of the gender gap(s) in venture funding: Funder- and entrepreneur-driven perspectives," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 13(C).
    19. John V. Winters, 2017. "Do Native STEM Graduates Increase Innovation? Evidence from U.S. Metropolitan Areas," Economics Working Paper Series 1714, Oklahoma State University, Department of Economics and Legal Studies in Business.
    20. Isphording, Ingo E. & Qendrai, Pamela, 2019. "Gender Differences in Student Dropout in STEM," IZA Research Reports 87, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    21. Chiara Cavaglia & Stephen Machin & Sandra McNally & Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela, 2020. "Gender, achievement, and subject choice in English education," CVER Research Papers 032, Centre for Vocational Education Research.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Educational economics; Career choices; Impact of schooling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

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