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STEM by the Lake: Raising High School Women’s Engineering Self-Efficacy and Belongingness through an Educational Intervention about Water Issues and Careers

Giese, Laura LU orcid ; Tellhed, Una LU orcid and Björklund, Fredrik LU orcid (2022) In International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology 14(2). p.207-231
Abstract
Women tend to have lower interest in engineering as compared to men, which previous research has shown is partly explained by gender differences in self-efficacy, social belongingness and communal career goals. Therefore, to attract more women to engineering, effective interventions are needed that target these factors. In this study, we evaluated an industry-designed intervention for high school students. The intervention consisted of a two-day interdisciplinary course on water issues and careers in the water sector, located by a lake in the Swedish countryside. The participating 722 high school students answered a survey before, immediately after, and three months after the intervention. We measured interest, self-efficacy, social... (More)
Women tend to have lower interest in engineering as compared to men, which previous research has shown is partly explained by gender differences in self-efficacy, social belongingness and communal career goals. Therefore, to attract more women to engineering, effective interventions are needed that target these factors. In this study, we evaluated an industry-designed intervention for high school students. The intervention consisted of a two-day interdisciplinary course on water issues and careers in the water sector, located by a lake in the Swedish countryside. The participating 722 high school students answered a survey before, immediately after, and three months after the intervention. We measured interest, self-efficacy, social belongingness, communal career goal affordance, and stereotype threat, in relation to engineering. The results showed expected gender differences in all pre-measures. A promising result was that the intervention raised women’s engineering self-efficacy and social belongingness and reduced stereotype threat levels. However, repeated exposure might be necessary for the changes to last. Engineering interest was unexpectedly not affected by the intervention, which may imply that stronger increases in self-efficacy and social belongingness are necessary to impact interest. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology
volume
14
issue
2
pages
25 pages
ISSN
2040-0748
project
Vatten, karriär och genus
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b88ff4b9-656c-492c-915e-dcfa7c9078e4
alternative location
https://genderandset.open.ac.uk/index.php/genderandset/article/view/1349
date added to LUP
2022-11-02 16:29:31
date last changed
2022-12-20 08:45:51
@article{b88ff4b9-656c-492c-915e-dcfa7c9078e4,
  abstract     = {{Women tend to have lower interest in engineering as compared to men, which previous research has shown is partly explained by gender differences in self-efficacy, social belongingness and communal career goals. Therefore, to attract more women to engineering, effective interventions are needed that target these factors. In this study, we evaluated an industry-designed intervention for high school students. The intervention consisted of a two-day interdisciplinary course on water issues and careers in the water sector, located by a lake in the Swedish countryside. The participating 722 high school students answered a survey before, immediately after, and three months after the intervention. We measured interest, self-efficacy, social belongingness, communal career goal affordance, and stereotype threat, in relation to engineering. The results showed expected gender differences in all pre-measures. A promising result was that the intervention raised women’s engineering self-efficacy and social belongingness and reduced stereotype threat levels. However, repeated exposure might be necessary for the changes to last. Engineering interest was unexpectedly not affected by the intervention, which may imply that stronger increases in self-efficacy and social belongingness are necessary to impact interest.}},
  author       = {{Giese, Laura and Tellhed, Una and Björklund, Fredrik}},
  issn         = {{2040-0748}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{207--231}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology}},
  title        = {{STEM by the Lake: Raising High School Women’s Engineering Self-Efficacy and Belongingness through an Educational Intervention about Water Issues and Careers}},
  url          = {{https://genderandset.open.ac.uk/index.php/genderandset/article/view/1349}},
  volume       = {{14}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}