The Gender Gap in Physical and Life Sciences: Masculinity,Femininity, Occupational Values,and Chilly Climate

Abstract

Although women have advanced considerably in science achievement, course taking, degrees earned, and professional positions held over the past four decades, most of this growth in female representation within the sciences has been confined to the life sciences while women's representation in physical, engineering, and mathematical (PEM) sciences remains recalcitrantly low. Many studies of this problem emphasize that life sciences are more compatible with stereotypical feminine personality characteristics, while PEM sciences are associated with traits understood to be culturally masculine. Operationalizing masculine and feminine personality traits with the Bem Sex Role Inventory, we test a series of hypotheses addressing the extent to which masculine and feminine personality characteristics explain why female STEM majors are less likely to be enrolled in a PEM science major compared to a life science major with a sample of 425 STEM majors drawn from a large, public, STEM-oriented university.