A ’STEM’ parent boosts girls’ participation in science degrees

ANN ARBOR-Even when girls perform just as well as boys on standardized math tests, they are half as likely to major in science at college. However, having one parent or guardian work in the STEM (science, technology, engineering or math) field makes it more likely for girls to perform better in math and to enroll in a "hard sciences" college degree in programs such as engineering, architecture, math and computer science. This effect is larger for girls than for boys, according to a study by researchers at the University of Michigan and University of Arkansas. "An important result is that most of the observed direct positive effects, of having a parent in STEM on the probability of enrolling 'hard science' college degrees, seem to be concentrated among females. This is in line with other work of mine and points to the potential benefit that role modeling could have on women," said Gema Zamarro, lead author and an associate professor at Arkansas. "Our results suggest that there are additional barriers-not only math performance or perceived math ability-that could be stopping women from entering STEM." Some of these barriers could be gender stereotypes that break down if a girl has a parent in the STEM field, Zamarro said. The effect of girls' perception of their math ability and their actual math ability on their choice of college majors could be problematic because STEM-related occupations are one of the few occupational fields experiencing economic growth.