SKM 2023 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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AKC: Arbeitskreis Chancengleichheit

AKC 1: AKC

AKC 1.3: Hauptvortrag

Dienstag, 28. März 2023, 12:00–12:30, ZEU 250

Belonging – a key to success in STEM?! — Lennart Brademann, Denise Dörfel, •Barbara M. Gordalla, and Anika Ihmels — TU Dresden, Faculty of Psychology, WOP

Women continue to be underrepresented in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) fields as students and also in professional roles. What factors influence women’s choice, persistence, and success? In the US, studies evidenced that women do not feel like they belong in STEM community: they experience an impeding study climate (also called chilly climate) or suffer from stereotypical views on possible careers. This results in a decreased desire to choose a STEM carrier (for an overview see Shapiro & Sax, 2011). The probability to drop out of the program (Höhne & Zander, 2019b; Peters et al., 2015) is increased in the case of high belonging uncertainty, or when there is a conflict between an occupational stereotype and one’s self-description.

The talk presents results from an online survey conducted among students, focusing on the field of physics. 122 physics students (40% female) completed it regarding success in studying physics (GPA, number of last attempts for an exam), turnover intention, chilly climate (e.g. exclusion, hostility), expectation of success (e.g. perceived potential, sense of belonging (e.g. belonging uncertainty), identification with physics, enjoyment, interest, a list of adjectives to describe oneself and to describe a successful physicist, and sociodemographic variables.

Results revealed lower social belonging and higher belonging uncertainty as well as a worse stereotype fit for women as compared to non-female students. Espepcially, social belonging turned out to be the most important predictor for GPA, identification, turnover intention, interest, enjoyment, perceived potential and self-efficacy. Social belonging hence was identified as an important influencing factor to enhance women’s interest, persistence, and success in STEM. Therefore, this factor demands for more attention in the future, both in research and in actual working environments - for a continued success of Germany in STEM fields.