Literature Review #2

(1) Visual-
 

(2) Citation- Gokhale, Anu A., et al. "Gender Differences in Attitudes toward Science and Technology among Majors." Journal of Science Education and Technology, vol. 24, no. 4, 01 Aug. 2015, pp. 509-516.

(3) Summary- Women make up around half of the work force however the gap between men and women getting degrees  in science and engineering fields has widened substantially. This article demonstrates that the attitude of women and of others towards women in these fields is a major impediment to women becoming more represented in the field. Several studies show that attitude towards people can either encourage or stop them from performing specific tasks or actions. This article shows that a lack of social and academic support for women in colleges  to pursue S&T fields can impede their academic and career aspirations.

(4) Authors-

Anu A. Gokhale, 

Cara Rabe-Hemp, 

Lori Woeste, 

Kenton Machina. Gokhale, Reb-Hemp and Machina are all professors at  Illinois Stae University. Woeste is a professor at Kirkwood Community College.

(5)Key Terms- S&T- science and Technology fields

Attitude-a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person's behavior.

Theory of Reasoned Action- Based on observations, reflection, experiences, etc., an individual develops a belief system. This belief system at any given time determines the individual’s attitudes, subjective norms, intentions, and behaviors. 

Theory of Planned Behavior- An extension of the Theory of Reasoned action with the addition of Perceived behavioral control. PBC refers to the perceived ease or difficulty of performing the behavior in question.

(6)Quotes- 

"In a study of students who planned to major in science, it was found that females generally found science uninteresting and the scientific lifestyle (as perceived by them) unattractive (Miller et al. 2006). In a meta-analysis of 106 studies, Bain and Rice (2006) found that males had slightly more positive attitudes toward technology. In yet another study, male students indicated a statistically significant more positive attitude for science when compared to the female students (Desy et al. 2011). Although females tend to hold more positive attitudes toward school and learning, males continue to maintain better attitudes toward science and are more motivated to succeed in science. These results, showing that females can succeed in school yet still have lower attitudes toward science, support the continued underrepresentation of women in the sciences."(513)

"One reason that women may not persist in S&T could be the negative impacts of a lack of full support for equity by their male peers. Even slight differences or lukewarm, rather than enthusiastic support, can impede women’s progress"(514)

"The focus on reducing gender disparity across all fields of S&T takes on greater urgency as we

cannot afford to ignore the potential contributions of half of the nation’s population. A lack of social and academic support for female students to pursue S&T fields can impede their academic and career aspirations." (515)

(7)Value- This article adds another element to my work by giving the explicit reason that women are underrepresented in STEM fields because of the attitude. This includes their own attitude toward the field and others attitude toward them entering into the field. This article points out how detrimental this disparity is.