‘95% of the time things have been okay’: the experience of undergraduate students in science disciplines with higher female representation

Research has shown that achieving gender equality in science goes beyond equal gender ratios in the classroom. Female students in science disciplines with relatively higher female participation rates (e.g. biology and chemistry) still experience similar gender issues as students in male-dominated science disciplines (e.g. physics and mathematics). Yet, when studying gender inequality in science, these so-called ‘gender-balanced’ disciplines are frequently ignored. This study aimed to investigate gender issues for students in biology and chemistry and explore how these experiences were impacting their persistence in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational and career pipeline. Findings showed that both male and female students commonly believed that issues of gender were restricted to the male-dominated science disciplines. However, female students still reported experiences of gender bias, commonly through the form of implicit discrimination. The importance of the affective domains was also highlighted, with science identity and belonging impacting the female student experience and their intentions to persist in the sciences. Results from this study suggest further work is needed in ‘gender-balanced’ science disciplines, specifically in the emotional domains of science identity and belonging. This research may help educators develop more effective intervention programmes for increasing women’s persistence in the STEM pipeline.

研究表明，实现科学领域的性别平等，绝非仅靠课堂内的性别比例均等即可达成。女性参与率相对较高的科学学科（例如生物学（biology）、化学（chemistry））中的女学生，仍会遭遇与男性主导的科学学科（例如物理学（physics）、数学（mathematics））中学生类似的性别平等问题。然而，在研究科学领域的性别不平等问题时，这些所谓的「性别均衡」学科却常被忽视。本研究旨在调研生物学与化学学科中学生面临的性别问题，并探究此类经历如何影响其在科学、技术、工程与数学（STEM）教育与职业通道中的留存意愿。研究结果显示，男女学生普遍认为性别问题仅存在于男性主导的科学学科中。但女学生仍自述遭遇过性别偏见，其形式多为隐性歧视。研究同时强调了情感领域的重要性：科学身份认同与归属感会影响女学生的就读体验及其在科学领域的留存意愿。本研究结果表明，针对「性别均衡」科学学科的相关研究仍有待深化，尤其需关注科学身份认同与归属感相关的情感维度。本研究可为教育工作者开发更有效的干预方案提供参考，以提升女性在STEM职业通道中的留存率。