Why do Women Leave Science and Engineering?

The author uses the 2003 and 2010 National Survey of College Graduates to examine the higher exit rate of women compared to men from science and engineering relative to other fields. The author finds that the higher relative exit rate is driven by engineering rather than science, and that half the gap can be explained by the relatively greater exit rate from engineering of women dissatisfied with pay and promotion opportunities. Family-related constraints and dissatisfaction with working conditions are found to be only secondary factors. The relative exit rate by gender from engineering does not differ from that of other fields once women’s relatively high exit rates from male fields generally are taken into account.

[1]  L M Branscomb,et al.  Women in science. , 1979, Science.

[2]  Anne Elizabeth Preston,et al.  Why Have All the Women Gone? A Study of Exit of Women from the Science and Engineering Professions , 1994 .

[3]  L. Morgan.  Is Engineering Hostile to Women? An Analysis of Data from the 1993 National Survey of College Graduates , 2000 .

[4]  Paula E. Stephan,et al.  Leaving Careers in IT: Gender Differences in Retention , 2005 .

[5]  A. Preston.  WOMEN LEAVING SCIENCE , 2006 .

[6]  Linley Erin Hall,et al.  Who's Afraid of Marie Curie?: The Challenges Facing Women in Science and Technology , 2007 .

[7]  John M Robst.  Education, College Major, and Job Match: Gender Differences in Reasons for Mismatch , 2007 .

[8]  John Robst,et al.  Education and job match: The relatedness of college major and work , 2007 .

[9]  J. Hunt,et al.  How Much Does Immigration Boost Innovation? , 2008, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[10]  Gary Gereffi,et al.  Getting the Numbers Right: International Engineering Education in the United States, China, and India , 2008 .

[11]  Nicole M. Fortin,et al.  The Gender Wage Gap among Young Adults in the United States: The Importance of Money versus People , 2008 .

[12]  basit. zafar.  College Major Choice and the Gender Gap , 2009, The Journal of Human Resources.

[13]  Jennifer Hunt.  Why Do Women Leave Science and Engineering? NBER Working Paper No. 15853. , 2010 .

[14]  Heather Antecol,et al.  Do Non-Cognitive Skills Help Explain the Occupational Segregation of Young People? , 2010, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[15]  J. Hunt,et al.  Which Immigrants Are Most Innovative and Entrepreneurial? Distinctions by Entry Visa , 2009, Journal of Labor Economics.

[16]  Todd R. Stinebrickner,et al.  Math or Science? Using Longitudinal Expectations Data to Examine the Process of Choosing a College Major , 2011 .

[17]  L. Frehill.  Gender and Career Outcomes of U.S. Engineers , 2012 .

[18]  J. Hunt.  Why Do Women Leave Science and Engineering? , 2012, SSRN Electronic Journal.