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A Tale of Two Majors: Explaining the Gender Gap in STEM Employment among Computer Science and Engineering Degree Holders

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  • Sharon Sassler

    (Department of Policy Analysis & Management, Cornell University, The College of Human Ecology, 297 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA)

  • Katherine Michelmore

    (Department of Public Administration and International Affairs, The Maxwell School, Syracuse University, 426 Eggers Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244-1090, USA)

  • Kristin Smith

    (Department of Sociology and Carsey School of Public Policy, University of New Hampshire, Huddleston Hall, 73 Main Street, Durham, NH 03824, USA)

Abstract

We examine factors contributing to the gender gap in employment in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) among men and women with bachelor’s degrees in computer science and engineering, the two largest and most male-dominated STEM fields. Data come from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System (SESTAT) from 1995 to 2008. Different factors are associated with persistence in STEM jobs among computer science and engineering degree holders. Conditional on receiving a degree in computer science, women are 14 percentage points less likely to work in STEM than their male counterparts. Controlling for demographic and family characteristics did little to change this gender gap. Women with degrees in engineering are approximately 8 percentage points less likely to work in STEM than men, although about half of this gap is explained by observed differences between men and women. We document a widening gender gap in STEM employment in computer science, but this gender gap narrows across college cohorts among those with degrees in engineering. Among recent computer science graduates, the gender gap in STEM employment for white, Hispanic, and black women relative to white men is even larger than for older graduates. Gender and race gaps in STEM employment for recent cohorts of engineering graduates are generally small, though younger Asian women and men no longer have an employment advantage relative to white men. Our results suggest that a one-size-fits-all approach to increasing women’s representation in the most male-dominated STEM fields may not work.

Suggested Citation

  • Sharon Sassler & Katherine Michelmore & Kristin Smith, 2017. "A Tale of Two Majors: Explaining the Gender Gap in STEM Employment among Computer Science and Engineering Degree Holders," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-26, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:6:y:2017:i:3:p:69-:d:103441
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Sarah Thébaud & Maria Charles, 2018. "Segregation, Stereotypes, and STEM," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-18, July.
    2. Tiffany Chow, 2022. "The Geography of Jobs: How Proximity to a Prestige Labor Market Shapes Opportunity for Computer Science Degree Holders," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-18, March.
    3. Zuazu Bermejo, Izaskun, 2018. "Cultural Values, Family Decisions and Gender Segregation in Higher Education: Evidence from 26 OECD Economies," IKERLANAK 28186, Universidad del País Vasco - Departamento de Fundamentos del Análisis Económico I.
    4. Sonia Verdugo-Castro & Alicia García-Holgado & María Cruz Sánchez-Gómez & Francisco José García-Peñalvo, 2021. "Multimedia Analysis of Spanish Female Role Models in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-19, November.
    5. Gabriela Ortiz-Martínez & Patricia Vázquez-Villegas & María Ileana Ruiz-Cantisani & Mónica Delgado-Fabián & Danna A. Conejo-Márquez & Jorge Membrillo-Hernández, 2023. "Analysis of the retention of women in higher education STEM programs," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-14, December.
    6. Yingyi Ma & Yan Liu, 2017. "Entry and Degree Attainment in STEM: The Intersection of Gender and Race/Ethnicity," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-17, August.
    7. Kathleen N. Smith & Joy Gaston Gayles, 2018. "“Girl Power”: Gendered Academic and Workplace Experiences of College Women in Engineering," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-23, January.
    8. Izaskun Zuazu, 2020. "Graduates’ Opium? Cultural Values, Religiosity and Gender Segregation by Field of Study," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-27, July.
    9. Zuazu-Bermejo, Izaskun, 2020. "Graduates’ opium? Cultural values, religiosity and gender segregation by field of study," OSF Preprints yn23j, Center for Open Science.

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