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Bye Bye Ms. American Sci: Women and the Leaky STEM Pipeline

Author

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  • Speer, Jamin D.

    (University of Memphis)

Abstract

More than two-thirds of STEM jobs are held by men. This paper provides a detailed analysis of the STEM pipeline from high school to mid-career in the United States, decomposing the gender gap in STEM into six stages. By far the most important stages are the initial college major choice and the college-to-career transition. Men are far more likely than women to start in a STEM major, especially among those who are the most prepared for STEM upon entry. This alone accounts for 57% of the total gender gap in STEM careers. After college, male STEM graduates are far more likely to be found in a STEM job, accounting for 44% of the overall gap. Women who start in STEM majors are also less likely to graduate in STEM (accounting for 16%), while the gap in pre-college STEM-readiness is a small factor (8%). Women attend college at much higher rates than men, which works to reduce the final gender gap in STEM (-14%). The pipeline to STEM jobs is complex, and focusing only on the college experience or only on the labor market misses a large part of the overall story of women in STEM.

Suggested Citation

  • Speer, Jamin D., 2021. "Bye Bye Ms. American Sci: Women and the Leaky STEM Pipeline," IZA Discussion Papers 14676, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14676
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhu,Yu & Xu, Lei, 2022. "Returns to Higher Education - Graduate and Discipline Premiums," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1091, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. Adamecz-Völgyi, Anna & Shure, Nikki, 2022. "The gender gap in top jobs – The role of overconfidence," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    3. Granato, Silvia, 2023. "Early Influences and the choice of college major: Can policies reduce the gender gap in scientific curricula (STEM)?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 494-521.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    STEM; gender gaps; college major;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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