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Challenges of women in engineering
Women and the STEM fields
Challenges of women in engineering
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Belonging Uncertainty of Women in Quantitative Majors Such as Math
Belonging uncertainty occurs to people of all genders, races, ethnicities, and social status’. It is the feeling that one does not belong in an area or field. We concentrated on womens’ belonging uncertainty in a quantitative major, math. All over the world, there are women who have a desire to pursue majors such as science, engineering, technology, and math, but they are discouraged from doing so because of stereotypes that suggest that they do not have the capability to compete with men in those fields. Some research looked at minorities and their belonging uncertainty; others looked specifically at women and the factors in play which create belonging uncertainty for them in quantitative fields such as math.
Walton and Cohen (2007) investigated whether or not minority groups would be unsure of the friendships and social links they form, which in turn would affect their feelings of social belonging. In the experiment, Black students had difficulty listing 8 friends in the computer science major which prompted a negative sense of social fit in that major, while white students showed no similar effect. This implies that social belonging relates to whether or not an individual feels comfortable in the major they pursue, and whether they will be confident in recommending that major to someone similar to themselves (Walter & Cohen, 2007). A similar study conducted by Johnson (2012) was tailored to observe the effects of the college environment on Black women and their social belonging (Johnson, 2012).
Researcher Johnson (2012) focused on the college environment, and its effect on the sense of belonging that women, especially women of color, may lack. The results...
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...ate perceptions and overall sense of belonging among
racially diverse women in STEM major. Journal of College Student Development,
53, 336-346.
Rosenthal, L., London, B., & Levy, S.R. (2011). The roles of perceived identity compatibility
and social support for women in a single-sex STEM program at a co-education
university. Sex Roles, 65, 725-736. doi: 10.1007/s11199-011-9945-0
Smith, J.L., Lewis, K.L., Hawthorne, L., & Hodges, S.D. (2012). When trying hard isn’t natural:
Women’s belonging with and motivation for male-dominated STEM fields as a function
of effort expenditure. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39, 131-143. doi:
1177/0146167212468332.
Walton, G., & Cohen, G.L. (2007). A question of belonging: Race, social fit, and achievement.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 82-96. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.92.1.
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Some college students might try to be more inclusive of others outside their own racial group by interacting across racial/ethnic lines. Humphrey’s states that although “students today do sometimes choose to live, socialize, or study together with similar backgrounds.” (575, Hoeffner and Hoeffner) however, she believes self-segregation does not appear to be widespread.
Cater, the author of the book Keepin’ It Real: School Success Beyond Black And White, became interested as of why minority students were faced with white society challenges in school systems? In her book, Keepin’ It Real: School Success Beyond Black And White, she offers an insightful look at the educational attainment in low-income urban communities. Carter suggest that these students are embraced the dominant opportunity ideology, they acknowledge the dominant cultural to obtain status and goods. However, they use their own cultural to gain status in their own communities. She conducted a research to study the importance of cultural authenticity for minority, such as African American and Latino, students. She examines how cultural authenticity influences minority students’ relationship with the values they believe are privileged in schools. Cultural authenticity reflects on the beliefs and values of everyday society. Carter questioned, why do so many African American and Latino students perform worse than their Asians and White peers in class and on exams? And why might African Americans and Latino students are less engaged in
In this brief report, I will be examining common practices, policies and resources that support Black women attending Princeton University. Included is a brief review of national averages in regards to higher education attainment and a rationale for continued rhetoric on this topic. My interest in this topic stem from my experience at State University’s Women Studies Program. While the conversation around gender is necessary and crucial, little attention was given to discussions of how race and gender affect an individual’s lived experience. I was constantly aware of my lack of representation among students who were in those classes and the faculty who taught.
Solorzano, D., Ceja, M., & Yosso, T. (2000). Critical race theory, racial microaggressions, and campus racial climate: The experiences of African American college students. Journal of Negro Education, 69(1/2), 60-73.
Therefore, universities have had to implement new measures that address racial insensitivity expressed by White students. According to Chao et al. (2015), in college campuses, student of color can hear every day racism comments, therefore, to create college campuses with a healthy climate, educators and psychologists must find ways to promote justice attitudes among non-Latino White students and foster racial empathy for targets of racism (p.95). They said: “White empathy refers to White students’ expression of empathy through a deep understanding of their fellow students’ experiences, especially those of racial and ethnic minority students suffering from racism”, (p.95). Educators and counselors must work together in helping students to better understand how to appreciate differences between groups. Chao et al., underlined in their study that to be able to understand individuals’ perceptions toward diversity, researchers have proposed the concept of openness to diversity (OTD), which refers to the appreciation of similarities and differences across cultural groups (p. 96). Open to diversity (OTD) also involves students ' interest to know more and more about unfamiliar cultures without assumptions. They said that “OTD moderates the relationship between White racial identity and White Empathy”, which means that when White students have greater OTD, they may be more likely to understand how minority students experience racism and when White students are less open to diversity, they may also be less willing to consider different perspectives on racial issues (p.
The path of a young scientist to the career of their choice is driven by many factors. Preferences strongly influence a person’s decision to enter a certain field, but so does ability. In addition, gender is a major factor that can be attributed to a young person’s decision for entering a scientific career. In a way, gender plays two roles. It can influence career choice from the beginning, shaping preferences, and well as having an influence on “making it” into a specific field. In scientific fields, it is not uncommon for job desirability to increase when a particular career is viewed as “men’s work” versus “women’s work”.
While overall college enrollment and graduation rates have risen for all minority groups, there continues to be concerns for this segment of the population, particularly for African American students. Even though there have been significant increases in enrollment and graduation figures over the past several decades, issues concerning retention persist. About 30 percent of African Americans who enroll in college drop out prior to degree completion (Rye, 2009). This is further documented by Museus (2011) who reports that less than one-half of minority students who begin college at a 4-year institution achieve a degree within 6 years. This is significant since college retention has been linked with both self-efficacy and future academic success (Brittain, Sy, & Stokes, 2009).
Throughout American history, African Americans have been tantamount to freedom and equality in American education. In recent years, educators and policymakers have become more aware of the problems of African American students in some of the critical areas of academic excellence and engagement, but have barely scratched the surface in explaining the origin of the reasons why the problems persist (Bush & Bush, 2013). Policies have now been created to enable more African American students in becoming comfortable in their learning environment. Additionally, education administrators must take on the challenge of creating a more positive social relationship for African American students at institutions across the country.
Disadvantaged college students are the majority in college today, were yesterday, and will be tomorrow. At times disadvantaged college students feel ashamed of their cultural background. Disadvantaged college students feel ashamed because they feel other people will put them down. They don t want to talk about it. Concerning shame because of social conditions, Bell Hooks says that Class differences were boundaries no one wanted to face or talk about (95). Yet concealing cultural background can cause misunderstanding among peers.
Cokley, Kevin. "The Impact of College Racial Composition on African American Students' Academic Self-Concept: A Replication and Extension." Journal of Negro Education 71.4 (2002): 288-96. JSTOR. Web.
Is there a difference in the mathematical ability between men and women? Historians have no precise method of quantifying or comparing their individual accomplishments (Olsen). Not only in mathematics, but also in many other career areas in the past, women were looked upon as inferior to their male counterparts. Women were not encouraged to pursue a career in mathematics. Historically, women were seen working around the home, cleaning the house, taking care of the children, and cooking the food. Even if they did pursue a career in mathematics, their research was sometimes viewed as questionable. I will defend the fact that, "Women have the same capabilities of achieving in mathematics than men do." However, you probably have heard of more male mathematicians than female mathematicians because historically, the male is labeled to be smarter in the subject of mathematics. In many cases this is not true. Women were viewed upon as equal in mathematical ability when they began making amazing discoveries in mathematics, began to stick up for their rights, and began to be accepted by their male counterparts as equal. An unknown author once wrote, "To understand the development of mathematics, we must have a picture of the men who made the science"(Olsen). Like many other statements about male mathematicians, you rarely find any trace of their female counterparts. Jean Dumee, a French astronomer, stated that women are not incapable of study, if they wish to make the effort, because between the brain of a woman and that of a man there is no difference (Olsen). Women mathematicians have been around for centuries and have had amazing contributions to the field of mathematics. Women like Hypatia, Sophie Germa...
Irving, M.A. & Hudley, C. (2008). Oppositional identity and academic achievement among african american males. In J. Ogbu (Ed.), Minority Status, Oppositional Culture, and Schooling, pp. 374-394. New York: Routledge.
Race relations are the ways in which individuals of different races living together in the same community behave toward one another. This topic directly relates to college campuses that possess students of different cultural and racial backgrounds. Diversity can be a huge benefit to students, as it not only exposes them to new ideas and ways of thinking, but also prepares them for the diverse world. After reviewing various academic articles on race relations in colleges, a study was conducted in which current White and Black/minority male and female students were interviewed about their opinions on Cleveland State’s race relations and diversity on campus.
"examine whether the fear of success (FS) construct, which grew out of attempts to understand the conflicting sex-related findings in achievement motivation, was helpful in explaining observed sex differences in mathematics, achievement and course participation" (4).
One research questions asks how the racial composition of friendship networks of young adults from different racial backgrounds change as the young adults move from high school to college. Another research questions asks whether prior experiences with interracial friendship increases students’ proclivity to form interracial friendships in college. The final question asks how various aspects of the college environment are related to the racial composition of students’ friendship networks.