What's So Special about STEM? A Comparison of Women's Retention in STEM and Professional Occupations.

We follow female college graduates in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and compare the trajectories of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related occupations to other professional occupations. Results show that women in STEM occupations are significantly...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social Forces Vol. 92; no. 2; pp. 723 - 757
Main Authors: Glass, Jennifer L., Sassler, Sharon, Levitte, Yael, Michelmore, Katherine M.
Format: Article
Published: Oxford University Press / USA Dec2013
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      pub: Oxford University Press / USA
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        atl: What's So Special about STEM? A Comparison of Women's Retention in STEM and Professional Occupations.
      aug:
        au:
          Glass, Jennifer L.
          Sassler, Sharon
          Levitte, Yael
          Michelmore, Katherine M.
        affil:
          University of Texas–Austin
          Cornell University
      su:
        Women's employment
        Occupational mobility
        Career changes
        STEM education
        Women in science
        Women in technology
        Women in engineering
        Women in mathematics
      sug:
        subj:
          Women's employment
          Occupational mobility
          Career changes
          STEM education
          Women in science
          Women in technology
          Women in engineering
          Women in mathematics
      ab: We follow female college graduates in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and compare the trajectories of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related occupations to other professional occupations. Results show that women in STEM occupations are significantly more likely to leave their occupational field than professional women, especially early in their career, while few women in either group leave jobs to exit the labor force. Family factors cannot account for the differential loss of STEM workers compared to other professional workers. Few differences in job characteristics emerge either, so these cannot account for the disproportionate loss of STEM workers. What does emerge is that investments and job rewards that generally stimulate field commitment, such as advanced training and high job satisfaction, fail to build commitment among women in STEM.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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