TY - JOUR
T1 - Gendered differences in perceived employability among higher education students in STEM and non-STEM disciplines
AU - Bennett, Dawn
AU - Bawa, Sherry
AU - Ananthram, Subramaniam
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Government of Western Australia. We acknowledge the State Government of Western Australia and the Future of Work Institute at Curtin University for their support of this work. We also thank the many students and educators who contributed to the study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Numerous policy interventions promote gender equity within STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) higher education enrolments and careers. Despite this, women in many countries continue to be under-represented and encounter barriers to access and career progression. These concerns are often attributed to gendered technical/technological confidence and gendered perceptions of career. Using an online self-assessment tool, this study reports the employability confidence of 12,708 university students. Utilising five employability constructs to assess the confidence of STEM and non-STEM women and men, we found that women in STEM were often more confident than men. Moreover, women in STEM reported higher confidence than women in non-STEM. These novel findings might help inform policies and strategies to attract and retain women in STEM degrees and careers. We emphasise the need to focus on career transition and advancement support given that women are confident whilst studying, yet less likely than men to advance in their careers.
AB - Numerous policy interventions promote gender equity within STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) higher education enrolments and careers. Despite this, women in many countries continue to be under-represented and encounter barriers to access and career progression. These concerns are often attributed to gendered technical/technological confidence and gendered perceptions of career. Using an online self-assessment tool, this study reports the employability confidence of 12,708 university students. Utilising five employability constructs to assess the confidence of STEM and non-STEM women and men, we found that women in STEM were often more confident than men. Moreover, women in STEM reported higher confidence than women in non-STEM. These novel findings might help inform policies and strategies to attract and retain women in STEM degrees and careers. We emphasise the need to focus on career transition and advancement support given that women are confident whilst studying, yet less likely than men to advance in their careers.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099601511&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13603108.2020.1871090
DO - 10.1080/13603108.2020.1871090
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85099601511
SN - 1360-3108
VL - 25
SP - 84
EP - 90
JO - Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education
JF - Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education
IS - 3
ER -