English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

For decades, the proportion of women in STEM professions (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) has remained at approximately one fourth in the European Union – an alarmingly low number (Center of Excellence Women and Science, 2014). With labor markets continuing to communicate an increasing need in STEM workforces, this low number signals unfulfilled talent that is otherwise greatly needed in many critical fields. Effective interventions are needed (Walsh and Heppner, 2006) to foster girls’ and women’s pathways into STEM. Yet, when it comes to the implementation of interventions and their effectiveness, current efforts leave a lot to be desired. The present article describes how girls and women can be encouraged to consider STEM professions as real options. There are many situations where women lose interest or fail to build up interest in STEM over their formative years from early childhood to school and tertiary education. The Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent et al., 1994; Lent and Brown, 2019) stresses key variables for the development and realization of career interest and goals (Figure 1). Important personal factors are STEM self-efficacy and outcome expectations for entering a STEM career. These factors are related to STEM interest, which in turn may lead to STEM career goals. “Building self-efficacy for math and science and fostering positive and realistic outcome expectations would lead to realistic and investigative interests, that would, in turn, lead to STEM career goals and preparation for, and entry into, a STEM occupation” (Fouad and Santana, 2017, p. 27). However, pathways into STEM careers are not only related to personal factors. Structural or social factors may work as barriers and filter out girls and women from STEM careers (Watt et al., 2006; Turner et al., 2019). The present article investigates closer how girls and women can be supported in the formation of interest in a field, to a certain career goal, to a specific choice of action.

It Takes More Than One Swallow to Make a Summer: Measures to Foster Girls' and Women's Pathways Into STEM