Why is the pipeline leaking? Experiences of young women in STEM vocational education and training and their adjustment strategies

Abstract

Purpose: The paper investigates the perceptions of young women during their vocational education and training (VET) in traditionally male-dominated STEM fields- science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-by analyzing mechanisms and actions addressing the female gender in gender-atypical career fields and reveals strategies young women apply when adjusting to the male-dominated educational and professional fields. Design/methodology/approach: The data originate from semi-structured interviews with young women (N = 71) who had chosen a STEM career and who were enrolled in VET in Swiss secondary schools. Results: The results indicate different processes of gendering in VET, uncovering various mechanisms and symbolic actions which contribute to the (re-)production of a masculine culture in STEM professions. Furthermore, the study provides insight into the different strategies young women apply in order to adjust to gender-atypical educational and professional life domains. Implications: The paper calls for the visibility of gender inequality in VET in order to make changes toward less female dropout in STEM fields. Moreover, the paper also presents implications for HR professionals and practitioners and provides suggestions for debates about the shortage of (female) STEM workers. Originality/value: Little is known about women's experience in gender-atypical tracks of VET. There is still a need to plug the leaks, i.e., reduce female attrition, in the STEM pipeline. © 2016 Makarova et al.

Keywords

Author Keywords

STEM Human Resource Management women Gender inequality Qualitative Method

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations

Department of Education, Universität Wien, Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Zollikofen, Switzerland

Department of Educational Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, BE, Switzerland

Funding & Acknowledgements

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, SNF

Grant: 4060-129279

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Swiss National Science Foundation for financial support of the study “Gender atypical careers of young women” (Grant no. 4060-129279). Furthermore, we would like to thank Irene Kriesi from the Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational and Educational Training in Switzerland (SFIVET) for her useful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

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Why is the pipeline leaking? Experiences of young women in STEM vocational education and training and their adjustment strategies

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