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“Women never become full professors”: Investigating social cognitive mediators of gender differences in research career interest

Rastegar, Tina LU (2019) PSYP01 20191
Department of Psychology
Abstract
Academia is vertically gender segregated, where women are underrepresented in senior positions in all fields (Allbright, 2019; Curtis, 2011; European Commission, 2016; Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKÄ), 2017). This study investigated research self-efficacy and social belongingness expectations as social cognitive mediators of research career interest in a sample of 239 Swedish social science university students (70% women). Mediation analyses found that women had lower research career interest compared to men, mediated by their lower self-efficacy beliefs and lower social belongingness expectations. The mediational role of social belongingness expectations specifically for research career interest was a novel finding. Two... (More)
Academia is vertically gender segregated, where women are underrepresented in senior positions in all fields (Allbright, 2019; Curtis, 2011; European Commission, 2016; Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKÄ), 2017). This study investigated research self-efficacy and social belongingness expectations as social cognitive mediators of research career interest in a sample of 239 Swedish social science university students (70% women). Mediation analyses found that women had lower research career interest compared to men, mediated by their lower self-efficacy beliefs and lower social belongingness expectations. The mediational role of social belongingness expectations specifically for research career interest was a novel finding. Two experimental manipulations tested if making research work concrete to students (by exemplifying tasks that researchers do) and promoting incremental ability beliefs (viewing abilities as malleable rather than fixed) would raise female students’ research self-efficacy and subsequently research career interest. The manipulations did not affect women, results indicated that women in the experimental groups did not differ significantly from the control group. Implications of social cognitive factors on career interest and outcomes in the context of a gender segregated academia are discussed, with suggestions for future research. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Rastegar, Tina LU
supervisor
organization
course
PSYP01 20191
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
SCCT, self-efficacy, social belonging, research interest, gender segregation, academia
language
English
id
8984802
date added to LUP
2019-06-18 11:36:58
date last changed
2019-06-18 11:36:58
@misc{8984802,
  abstract     = {{Academia is vertically gender segregated, where women are underrepresented in senior positions in all fields (Allbright, 2019; Curtis, 2011; European Commission, 2016; Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKÄ), 2017). This study investigated research self-efficacy and social belongingness expectations as social cognitive mediators of research career interest in a sample of 239 Swedish social science university students (70% women). Mediation analyses found that women had lower research career interest compared to men, mediated by their lower self-efficacy beliefs and lower social belongingness expectations. The mediational role of social belongingness expectations specifically for research career interest was a novel finding. Two experimental manipulations tested if making research work concrete to students (by exemplifying tasks that researchers do) and promoting incremental ability beliefs (viewing abilities as malleable rather than fixed) would raise female students’ research self-efficacy and subsequently research career interest. The manipulations did not affect women, results indicated that women in the experimental groups did not differ significantly from the control group. Implications of social cognitive factors on career interest and outcomes in the context of a gender segregated academia are discussed, with suggestions for future research.}},
  author       = {{Rastegar, Tina}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{“Women never become full professors”: Investigating social cognitive mediators of gender differences in research career interest}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}