Predicting the STEM Outcomes of Academically Qualified Women: A Longitudinal Examination of Social Cognitive Career Theory
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Abstract
There is a well-documented gender disparity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, which has been the focus of research for several decades (i.e., Betz & Hackett, 1981; Ceci & Williams, 2009, 2010; Wang, Eccles, & Kenny, 2013). Questions as to why this is the case are not new; however, with the growing body of research, there seem to be more questions than answers. This study drew primarily from the vocational psychology literature, particularly Social Cognitive Career Theory, building on previous literature in this area by examining differences in career choices made over time by qualified women across different stages in the education-to-career pathway. The results of the present study indicate that among qualified women many of the SCCT personal and contextual variables are relevant to STEM career development. Moreover, findings from the present study support the hypothesis (Lent et al., 1994) that personal, environmental, and behavioral variables affect one another. An important aspect of the SCCT model is the acknowledgment that at any given point in time, certain variables will carry different weight (Lent et al., 1994). The current study provides further support for this and underscores the necessity of understanding and framing career development as a process, unfolding across several developmental stages. These findings, their generalizability, and implications for practice should be carefully considered in the context of several limitations that this sample was influenced by: limitations in reliability and selection of variables, lack of diversity within the sample, as well as the extraneous variables related to overall economic and political backdrop.
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Introduction -- Literature review -- Methodology -- Results -- Discussion -- Appendix
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Ph.D.