Even though women and people of color have made small gains in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) over the past few decades, there are still big gaps in most STEM subjects, except for biology and the life sciences.

According to a new study, students self-select into or out of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields depending on their preconceived notions about a typical student.

New research conducted by the University of Reading has reported a social hierarchy in STEM, as well as narrow but different ideas about the ideal or typical student in each field. These ideas come from STEM students and people in general.

The results, which are published in International Studies in Sociology of Education today may explain why women, students of color, and students with disabilities are underrepresented in some STEM subjects. Researchers think a change in mentality is needed to fix the situation.

Students generally view biology as more challenging than physics. How students talk about STEM subjects, themselves, and their classmates shows how patriarchy, white supremacy, classism, and ableism affect who can study biology, engineering, math, or physics and do well at it.

“Diversity in STEM is vital to ensure,” according to Dr. Billy Wong, Associate Professor at the University of Reading’s Institute of Education, “that research is designed to meet the needs of, and challenges faced by, all members of our communities.

With the exception of biology and the life sciences, “over recent decades, we are still seeing huge disparities in most STEM subjects”

“Listening to students speak about STEM subjects,” adds the researcher, “has actually revealed a lot about the barriers to entry into non-biological sciences, mathematics, and engineering.”

89 students from two research-intensive universities who are all majoring in one (or more) of the following four topics were interviewed by Dr. Wong and his team: biology, physics, mathematics, and engineering. They questioned the participants regarding the ideal student for their topic and three other subjects, as opposed to the average student.

The words “analytical,” “clever,” and “resilient” were used to describe students in engineering, mathematics, and physics. On the other side, biology is viewed as a field where “collaboration,” “work-life balance,” and “passion” are encouraged.

People think that biology, which has about as many women as men, is the easiest of the four STEM subjects.

Susie, a White British woman pursuing an engineering degree, was interviewed for the study. She claimed that many engineering students, especially female students, “don’t know how good they are.” 

She adds: “They think that if they don’t get the best marks … they’re not worth it because there’s no one telling them, “hey, that’s perfectly fine”, because… there’s a lot of focus on that first [class grade] being the be all and end all.”

“You’ve got to be passionate about physics,” adds Physicist Francesca, a Black British woman who participated in the study, “because physics is hard. So, if you don’t like it as much as you say you like it, you’re probably going to tear your hair out and drop out within six months of doing the degree… you’ve got to have… mad resilience… you’re going to be re-writing this code 20 times, re-doing that problem 20 times .”  She also said that most people in physics are “white or male.”

The ideal biology student, according to Heather, a British East Asian woman who participated in the study, “asks questions if [they] don’t understand anything,” invests “110% into [their] coursework,” and “does extra reading in their spare time.”

In part, because their “department puts a lot of emphasis on [wanting] to change the idea [that] scientists are people who are [literally] working by themselves in a lab,” according to Odessa, a White British woman participant, the typical biology student is “willing to work hard” and “with other people… on collaborative projects.” People who struggle with biology aren’t good communicators, she claimed, adding that “science is all about collaboration.”

It’s unclear which emerged first—the perception of biology as a simple topic or the increased representation of women in the biological sciences, according to Dr. Wong. 

“We do think it’s likely that women are self-selecting out of non-biological sciences because they view them in masculine terms.

“This social hierarchy will also impact students with caring responsibilities or paid work, as well as disabled students,” the expert adds.

“Members of these groups may think that taking on a ‘hard’ subject would require ways of being that are totally inconsistent with the demands of their lives.

“We have to make STEM subjects more inclusive and accessible to all and changing the image of who studies in each discipline would make a significant difference.”

Interventions to address these challenges, according to Dr. Wong and his team, should take place in secondary schools as well as in postsecondary and higher education. Some of these might be efforts by people in higher education and the wider STEM community to challenge the hierarchy by better recognizing the value that each branch of STEM brings to the table. Researchers say that working with people from different fields would help a lot with this.

People’s ideas about who studies STEM subjects could be changed by making changes earlier in the education process, like in key stage 3 or GCSE science classes. Dr. Wong says that schools should teach that STEM isn’t just for people who fit certain stereotypes. In fact, the ideal STEM student is thought to be extremely diverse, and students need to be made aware of this from an early age.

Source: 10.1080/09620214.2022.2122532

Image Credit: Getty

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