New research suggests more female peers create a female-friendly environment in STEM fields
By Tom Jacobs for Pacific Standard
The issue of why women are so underrepresented in the STEM fields—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—is poorly understood. One thing, however, is certain: They are not going to enter the field if they drop out of school.
And new research finds they are far more likely to do that under a specific set of conditions: when there are few if any other females in their doctoral program.
The results suggest "more female peers create a female-friendly environment that encourages women to persist in doctoral programs," write Ohio State University economists Valerie Bostwick and Bruce Weinberg. Their study is published on the website of the National Bureau of Economic Research.
The researchers examined data on all 2,541 students who enrolled in 33 graduate programs at six public universities in Ohio between 2005 and 2016. They found the average incoming class for such programs was about 38 percent female.
About the Author
Alexis GajewskiAlexis Gajewski
Senior Content Strategist
Alexis Gajewski is a manufacturing writer and editor with nearly 20 years of experience covering the people, practices, and technologies that keep industrial facilities running. For more than a decade, she served as Senior Content Strategist for Plant Services, creating content for plant managers, engineers, and maintenance professionals on a variety of industrial topics.
During her tenure, Alexis worked to develop the brand’s digital strategy and helped launch and produce Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast. She also created The Lighter Side of Manufacturing, a weekly blog that explored the inventive and sometimes humorous side of the industry.
Alexis co-founded Influential Women in Manufacturing, a recognition program that honored 49 women in its first two years, earned an industry award for Best Product Launch, and received a proclamation from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and a commendation from U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
She also led newsroom operations and development at a large media company where she set editorial standards, developed training curriculum, and helped support AI adoption for more than 150 editors across 80+ brands spanning manufacturing, industrial processing, automation, and more.
Additionally, Alexis works as a freelance writer and editor, and her areas of interest include continuous improvement, the skilled workforce, and the role of emerging technology on the plant floor.
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