The sexism-laden stereotype that Science is a “male” field in which men are better than women has existed since the dawn of time. Women used to be prohibited to even enter a university building, let alone to be involved in academic activities. Nowadays, however, men and women are ensured fairly equal chances to pursue career and education they desire. The myth that girls are innately worse in Science has been long since debunked, and gender differences and segregation have gradually disappeared from many academic setting, especially in developed parts of the world.
However,
this does not seem to go hand in hand with how women are currently being
portrayed in Science. Despite many efforts done to balance the scale, young
women are generally very underrepresented in science, technology, engineering
and mathematics fields of study and labor markets. UNESCO’s Institute for
Statistic (2012), for instance, reported that the representation of women in
Science research is less than 50% in nearly all regional, with the highest
being in Latin America and The Caribbean where females comprise 45,2% of the researchers.
Not to mention that since the Nobel Prize was established in 1901, from 853
Nobel laureates, only 44 of them are female. With women being half of the
world’s population, this fact suggests a gap that is interesting to be
investigated.
An even more interesting finding was
reported in Vansteenkiste, Soenens, Sierens, Luyckx, & Lens (2009) about a
correlation between autonomous motivation and gender. They claimed that female
students tend to show ‘a more adaptive academic pattern of functioning’; they
are less likely to procrastinate and cheat, are more efficient in using time
and environment, and tend to obtain higher grades than their male counterparts.
In short, girls can be really great learners if they want to. Yet in Science,
they continue being inferior to their male counterparts. If it is already
established that it is not a matter of opportunities or genetic, and girls
apparently do not lack in motivation either, what could possibly be the reason
behind this gender gap in Science?
Indeed, most educational institutions in
recent decades will not openly condone any form of gender discrimination, and
the ones that do are easily faced with scrutiny by their fellow educators. Yet it
probably has to be noted that policies by educational institution probably only
comprises small percentage of the total influence in a student’ educational achievement.
Each race, nationality and its respective society has their own perception on
what field is deemed suitable for each gender, and this presumption affects an
individual’s expectation of success and achievement. Women are less likely to
pursue science related careers if they grow up in an environment whose gender
expectation for women put less subjective values on these fields (Eccles, 1994).
On the other hand, there is also a positive correlation between a daughter’s
educational performance and their mother’s education and career,
suggesting intergenerational transmission of gender identities from mothers to
daughters (San Roman and Goiricilaya, 2012).Therefore, gender roles in society definitely
has some influence on the involvement of girls in Science. It is very likely
that if in a certain society a woman’s right is oppressed, their contribution
in Science will not be much appreciated either.
Such gender discrimination is mostly
identified with developing countries, yet in developed, modern countries where
women are granted equal rights as men in all walks of life, similar trend is
still apparent. In regard to this, Osborne, Simon and Collins (2003) have
defined what they called as an attitude
toward science as “the feelings, beliefs and values held about an object
that maybe the enterprise of science, school science, the impact of science on
society or scientist themselves”. Findings
of various studies (Osborne, Simon and Collins; 2003) confirmed that the girls generally
have less positive attitude toward Science than boys. They avoid being involved
in Science although they have the potential to be as successful as boys in it,
and are provided just as much of opportunities.
A lot of causes can be behind this negative
attitude. Firstly, Science is often perceived as practical subjects with no
cultural significance. Since Science is compulsory in school, teachers are less
pressured to promote their subject and consequently, it comes across as
something useful instead of something fulfilling (Osborne, et al, 2003). Students’
involvement in it are ensured while they are in school, but it declined as soon
as they enter college and continued to during their career, since for most
young people in modernized countries, education and job are entitled to
self-fulfillment and self-actualization (Osborne, et al, 2003; Schreiner and
Sjoberg, 2005).
Secondly, they simply assume that Science is
not the right path for them. This self-perception can go in two different ways.
First, it is because they think they are good at something else. Girls are
reported to be able to compare various fields, progressively contemplating
their ability and choosing what objects will suit them best (Osborne, et al,
2003). Girls also tend to have strong both verbal and math skill, and
consequently are attracted to different careers (Azar, 2010). Second, it is
because they believe they are not good at Math. Girls are prone to anxiety and
they who endorse the negative stereotype about women in Science tend to show a
drop in their performance (Azar, 2010) which later manifests into avoidance
toward Science related occupations.
Thirdly, they do not want to be identified
as a ‘Science’ person. Young woman recognize the importance of Science for
society, yet they are not interested in becoming a scientist or working in
science (Schreiner and Sjoberg, 2005). It is because from their point of view
Science is portrayed as boring practical job, and girls are more interested in
jobs that offer late-modern values such as creativity or money (Schreiner and
Sjoberg, 2005).
It is apparent that the lack of involvement
of women in Science is not a matter of cognitive ability, motivation, or
opportunities. Both developing and developed countries have similar problem.
Gender-role during the upbringing of a girl gives a lot of influence on how she
might or might not take opportunities handed to them. On the contrary, in cases
where gender-inequality is practically nonexistent, girls’ attitude toward
science takes turn on the steering wheel instead. In the end this will cause
chain reaction because to have more women in Science, a more positive and attractive
portrayal of Science are essential, and that can be attained by the involvement
of more women in Science.
References:
Azar, B. (2010). Math+ culture= gender gap. American
Psychological Association, 41(7).
Institute for
Statistics (2012). Women in Science. No.
23. UNESCO.
Eccles, J. S. (1994).
Understanding women’s educational and occupational choices. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18, 585-609.
Osborne, J., Simon,
S., & Collins, S. (2003). Attitudes towards science: a review of the
literature and its implications. International
Journal of Science Education, 25(9), 1049-1079.
San Roman, A.G &
Goiricilaya, S. 2012. “Gender Gap in PISA Test Scores: The Impact of Social
Norms and The Mother’s Transmission of Role Attitudes.” IZA Discussion paper no.
6338, February 2012.
Schreiner, C., &
Sjøberg, S. (2007). Science education and youth's identity construction - two
incompatible projects? In: D. Corrigan, J. Dillon, and R. F. Gunstone (eds.). The Re-Emergence
of Values in Science Education (pp. 231-248). Rotterdam, Sense.
Vansteenkiste, M, et
al. (2009). Motivational Profiles From a Self-Determination Perspective: The
quality of motivation matters. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101,
671-688.
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