Exploring the Experiences of College Women in Fields with Disparities in Gender Representation

Autor: Kara Crawford, Blake Silver
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Postsecondary Student Success, Vol 3, Iss 3 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2769-4879
2769-4887
DOI: 10.33009/fsop_jpss134226
Popis: Although women earn over half of all bachelor’s degrees in the United States, they are not equally represented across fields of study. Research on gender segregation in higher education has expanded, but this primarily quantitative work tends to neglect the voices of the college women who are experiencing gender-segregated settings firsthand. Our research explores the experiences of women majoring in fields where gender representation is unequal. Sixteen women undergraduates took part in interviews, with half coming from majors classified as women-minority, and half from majors designated as women-majority. Findings demonstrate that women in women-minority majors and women in women-majority majors differ in how they describe their experiences around three themes: relationships with classmates, relationships with professors, and the emotional impact of major demographics. This article concludes by exploring implications for higher education.
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