gender in the geosciences: influences on recruitment and retention of women in the geosciences eric...

Gender in the Geosciences: Influences on Recruitment and

Retention of Women in the GeosciencesEric Riggs, Ph.D.

Assistant Dean, College of GeosciencesResearch Associate Professor, Dept. of Geology & Geophysics

Texas A&M University

The Team:

Julie Sexton, University of Northern ColoradoKevin Pugh, University of Northern ColoradoCassendra Bergstrom, University of Northern ColoradoRhonda Parmley, Quaternia Services, LLCMichael Phillips, University of Northern ColoradoEric Riggs, Texas A&M University

NSF-HRD 1136233 & 1136238

• Women are under-represented in the geosciences, from faculty (nationally only about 15%) all the way to the undergraduate level (about 40%)

• Some departments are much more successful than others at attracting and retaining female students

• What can we do as a community to bring female participation to parity as we address workforce challenges in the geosciences?

Background: Gender in the Geosciences

American Geosciences Institute, 2014

• What factors relate to undergraduate female and male students selection of and persistence in a geoscience major?

• Why are some departments more successful than others at attracting and retaining female students?

Overview of the NSF Study

Social Cognitive Career Theory

Environmental(e.g., Learning

Environment, Culture)

Personal/Cognitive(e.g., Self Efficacy,

Interest)

Behavior(e.g., Studying, Engagement)

Major ChoiceCareer Choice

• Data Faculty and student interview data Student survey data

• Data collection sites: 6 geoscience departments 3 low female sites: graduate < 40% female students 3 high female sites: graduate > 40% female students

• Program sites are geology & geophysics programs embedded in earth science offerings at relatively large public universities with available pairwise comparisons

Overall Methods

• What attracts students to a geoscience major? (from interview and survey data)

• Statistical model that explain students’ selection of a major and career (from survey data)

• What students like about geosciences courses and faculty (from interview data)

• Experiences of female and male students in four geoscience departments (from interview data)

Overview of Presentation

• Qualitative student data from interviews and surveys

• Data collection sites: 4 geoscience departments 2 low female sites: graduate < 40% female students 2 high female sites: graduate > 40% female students

Part 1:What attracts students to the major?

Low female sites High female sites

Male students 65 60

Female students 63 66

What attracts students to major?Results by Gender

Interest ge

ology

Like O

utdoor

Career o

pportunities

Department

Encourag

ed by Someone

0102030405060

Perc

ent R

espo

nses

With

in

Gro

ups

Men (N = 125, responses = 132)

Women (N = 129, responses = 179)

Men (N = 125, responses = 132)

Women (N = 129, responses = 179)

Interest ge

ology

Like O

utdoor

Career o

pportunities

Department

Encourag

ed by Someone

0102030405060

Perc

ent R

espo

nses

With

in

Gro

ups

What attracts students to major?Results by Gender

1 2 3

Interest ge

ology

Like O

utdoor

Career o

pportunities

Department

Encourag

ed by Someone

0102030405060

Perc

ent R

espo

nses

With

in G

roup

s

What attracts students to major?Results by Site Type

Low female (N = 128, responses = 140)

High female (N = 126, responses = 171)

Low female (N = 128, responses = 140)

High female (N = 126, responses = 171)

Interest ge

ology

Like O

utdoor

Career o

pportunities

Department

Encourag

ed by Someone

0102030405060

Perc

ent R

espo

nses

With

in G

roup

s

What attracts students to major?Results by Site Type

1 2 3

Interest is an important attractor for men and women and students at low and high sites

Career opportunities are a frequent attractor for men and also for students overall at low sites

Liking the department is a frequent attractor for women and also for students overall at high sites

Summary

1

2

3

• Preliminary findings from Year 1 data

• Departmental characteristics: Need to explore role in attracting and retaining women and men

• Career opportunities: Need to explore role in attracting men and potential for attracting women

Conclusion from qualitative data





Part 2:What attracts students to the major?

Social Cognitive Career Theory Revisited

Personal

Environmental

Behavioral

Self-Efficacy

Interest/Identity

Connection to Instructor

Transformative Experience


BehaviorDisplay motivated

use of content

CognitionDisplay expansion

of perception

ValueDisplay

experiential value

“I think about rocks differently than I did before. Now when I don’t have anything to do, I look at a rock and try to tell its story. I think about where it came from, where it formed, where it’s been, what its name is...I used to skip rocks down at the lake but now I can’t bear to throw away all those stories!” (Fourth grade student)

Do these factors (self-efficacy, interest/identity, connection to instructor, transformative experience) help us understand why women choose to major and pursue careers in the geosciences?

229 Individuals– 35% Male, 62% Female (3% unreported).– 38% Geoscience Majors, 62% Non-majors.– 75% Caucasian, 11% Latino/Hispanic, 5.7% Asian, 7.7% other/multiracial (.6% unreported).

Survey Participants

Pre-Survey (Beginning of Semester)

Self-Efficacy– 4 items (=.86).– “Even if the work in my geoscience course(s) is hard, I can learn it.” Interest/Identity– 13 items (=.97).– “I enjoy the geosciences.” – “Being involved in the geosciences is a key part of who I am.”

Post-Survey (End of Semester)

Connection to Instructor– 3 items (=.87).– “I felt I connected to the instructor(s) in my geoscience course(s).” Transformative Experience– 25 items (person and item reliability > .95).– “I look for chances to apply my knowledge of geoscience in my everyday life.”

Post-Survey (End of Semester)

Intent to Major– 3 items (=.98).– “I plan to major in the geosciences.” Confidence in Major– 3 items (=.91).– “I am confident in my decision to major in the geosciences.” Intent to Pursue a Career– 3 items (=.98).– “I see myself working as a geoscientist.”

Model of Relationships

Self-Efficacy

Interest/Identity

Connection to Instructor


Intent to Major

Confidence in Major

Intent to Pursue a Career

PersonalFactors

EnvironmentalFactors

BehavioralFactors

Major & Career Outcomes

Results

Results – Gender Differences

Implications

Foster Interest– Involvement, Meaning, Relevance.

Connect to Students– Responsiveness, informal interactions.– Female faculty?

Teach for Transformative Experiences– Frame the content in terms of its everyday use.– Scaffold re-seeing.– Model transformative experience.

Conclusion from survey data

Further to investigate the role of following factors in recruitment and retention:

1. Transformative Experiences

2. Connecting to instructor





Part 3:Role of courses and faculty

Role of Courses and Faculty

• What do students like and dislike about geoscience courses?

• What do students like and dislike about geoscience faculty?

• Are there any differences in these preferences between sites and gender groups?

Method

• Four sites• 2 low sites graduate < 40% female students• 2 high sites graduate > 40% female students

• Interview data– Student focus groups– 2 to 6 participants per group– Grouped by gender and level

Like Courses by Gender

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Perc

ent o

f Res

pons

es w

ithi

n G

roup

Male Students (N=33, responses=87)

Female Students (N=28, responses=67)

Like Courses by High and Low Sites

Class Size

Social E

nvironment

Field Trips/O

utdoors

Material P

resentation

Instructo

r Enthuiasm La

bs

Subject Matter

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Perc

ent o

f Res

pons

es w

ithi

n G

roup

Low Sites (N=25, responses=35)

High Sites (N=36, responses=52)

Dislike Courses by Gender

Class siz

eLa

bs

How Materia

l is Presented

Math

Subject Matter

Difficu

lt Workload

Other0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Perc

ent o

f Res

pons

es w

ithi

n G

roup



Like Faculty by Gender

Accessi

ble or Helpful

Focuses o

n Students

Enthusiasm

/ Passi

on

Laid-back

Organized

Career Help

Science

Experie

nce/ K

nowledge

Teaching Style

05

1015202530354045

Perc

ent o

f Res

pons

es w

ithi

n G

roup



Individual Characteristics Professional Characteristics

Dislike Faculty by Gender

Disorganize

d

Disresp

ects Students

Not Acce

ssible

Not Engaging

Dislike Teach

ing Style

Poor Teach

ing StyleNone

Other0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35Individual Characteristics

Perc

ent o

f Res

pons

es w

ithi

n G

roup

Teaching None/Other



Conclusion

• Students’ views of courses and faculty impact their decisions to major and continue in a career– Male vs. female student views

• Overall, students had more comments about what they liked than what they disliked

• Future work: – Investigate patterns within the larger categories,

especially those with discrepancies– Investigate patterns within sites





Part 4:Gendered experience in departments

Introduction

• 22 Faculty and 61 students interviewed at 2 low sites and 2 high sites. – Low sites graduate < 40% women– High sites graduate > 40% women

• Research question: – What differences in faculty and student interactions do

faculty and students perceive based on gender?

Coding Process

• Coded responses and applied equity categories developed by other researchers who have investigated equity. – Student and student interactions– Faculty and student interactions

Response Equity CategoryDon’t Know NullNo Not certainYes Negative

Positive

I don’t know: Null

• Null experiences are absent of negative and positive experiences.

• Experiences that are devoid of equity messages are inherently discriminatory for persons that are in lower represented groups because the “normal/neutral” environment is too often designed in terms of “white male privilege.” (MacIntosh)

• Exemplars (“I don’t know”) • “I’ve never looked for it.” • “Probably, but I would not have any idea what they are.”

Yes: Negative

• Include both overt and subtle displays.

• These are experiences in which someone unconsciously or deliberately displays, creates, or acts in ways that discriminate, exclude, and produce a hostile environment for women

• Exemplars (“Yes: negative”)– Female student: “Being a female in our major you have to work a little

harder. I’ve had to work harder on tests to, not necessarily get the same grade, but get the same amount of respect [from the professor] on the assignment."

– Female faculty: “There was [a male] instructor who [said] that women could not do fieldwork…that it was too physically demanding. Or that most women couldn’t…It was one of his duties to flush out the women who couldn’t."

Yes: Positive

• Additive experiences support equity, but they represent only those of which the mainstream/dominant culture is comfortable.

• Transformative experiences send messages from the equity-centric perspective rather than the dominant culture perspective. It is a purposeful approach for a commitment to equity through personal involvement and commitment to change.

• Exemplars (“Yes: positive”)– Female student: “Having positive and successful [female faculty] in the department is really

inspiring…Seeing women being very successful is great and they’re super inspirational.”

– Female student: “I have heard a couple of professors say, ‘We can’t lose you, we need female students.’ There’s been a group effort to keep me here.”

No: No equity measure

• How do we interpret “no” responses when faculty and students are relating “yes – negative” experiences about their sites?– Possible interpretations:

• “no” means “no”.• “no” means lack of awareness of implicit gender differences or

unwillingness to look at gendered experiences. In this case, “no” responses would be categorized as “null”.

• Exemplars (“No”)–Male faculty: “I don’t see a clear difference between them (male and female

students). It’s more of an individual issue.”–Male faculty: “I haven’t witnessed [differential treatment in my experience

here… Everybody treats everybody else pretty much the same.”

Don't know (Null) No (No equity category) Yes (Negative) Yes (Positive)0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Perc

ent o

f Res

pons

es W

ithin

Gro

ups

Findings: Overall Pattern Faculty and Student Responses by Site

Low sites participants (N=36, responses=88)

High sites participants (N=48, responses=58)


10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Perc

ent o

f Res

pons

es W

ithin

Gro

ups

Findings: Student Responses by Gender

Male students (N=28, responses=18)

Female students (N=33, responses=41)


10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Perc

ent o

f Res

pons

es W

ithin

Gro

ups

Findings: Student responses by gender and high and low sites

Male Students Low Site (N=15, responses=8)

Male students High Site (N=18, responses=10)

Female Students Low Site (N=10, responses=25)

Female Students High Site (N=18, responses=16)

What do results mean for recruiting and retaining women in undergraduate

geoscience programs?• High sites report higher percentage of positive gendered experiences.

– Culture at high sites may be more welcoming to all students generally and female students particularly which may explain why they are graduating more female students.

• Male students at high and low sites do not perceive gendered experiences. Diversity literature tells us privileged groups less likely to perceive differential treatment.– Men may be less likely to perceive that they are treated differently based on

their gender. As the privileged group, they may not be aware of differences.

• Women are more likely to perceive being treated differently based on their gender. As the less privileged group, they may have heightened awareness of differences.

…and the beat goes on

• Data collection from Year 2 is complete and under analysis

• Data from Year 3 is being gathered now• Anticipate a major dissemination piece for

the community– Similar to Holmes and O'Connell “Where are

the women geoscience professors?” and related literature

gender in the geosciences: influences on recruitment and retention of women in the geosciences eric...

Documents

female geosciences majors

undergraduate female

female participation

female studentswhat

major factors

year study

geoscience major

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