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CADARET DISSERTATION (FINAL) (1).pdf (2.2 MB)
ETD Abstract Container
Abstract Header
Stereotype Threat as a Barrier to Women Entering Stem Careers
Author Info
Cadaret, Michael C
Permalink:
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1435939180
Abstract Details
Year and Degree
2015, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, Counseling Psychology.
Abstract
Vocational psychology has produced a great deal of research about the development of career interest and choice. Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) has increasingly guided much of this research, particularly research that has been concerned with career pathways for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Women and racial/ethnic minorities are largely underrepresented in STEM, increased research about the factors contributing to these disparate numbers in these domains is important as employment opportunities in STEM are on the rise. Thus far the proximal contextual affordances studied have minimally included research from social psychology regarding stereotype threat (Steele, 1997). Stereotype threat research has demonstrated that negative stereotypes about one’s social identity can influence performance (e.g., women in mathematics). The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationships among stereotype threat and academic self-efficacy for women majoring in STEM fields. As coping efficacy has been shown to mediate the impact of barriers on academic self-efficacy and interests and moderate the relationship between variables related to identity and self-efficacy, the present study examined the impact of coping efficacy on the relationship between stereotype threat and self-efficacy. Participants were 232 undergraduate women majoring in STEM fields. Stereotype threat was measured by stigma consciousness (Pinel, 1999) and the stereotype vulnerability scale (Spencer, 1993). Coping efficacy was measured by the Coping With Barriers scale (CWB; McWhirter, 1997) and academic self-efficacy by Lent et al.’s (1987) Self-Efficacy for Academic Milestones (AM-S) index. Responses were collected online and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results of the mediation model showed a significant negative path from stigma consciousness to academic self-efficacy. When coping efficacy is included in the model, the direct path was no longer significant, but a significant indirect effect is present, suggesting coping efficacy’s role as a mediator. Conversely, a moderation model was tested, showing that the interaction of coping efficacy and stigma consciousness was significant on academic self-efficacy. These findings offer an important addition to the proximal contextual barriers framework within SCCT. Additionally, they demonstrate that identity and environment interaction can be harmful to women’s career development in STEM.
Committee
Suzette Speight, Dr. (Advisor)
Paul Hartung, Dr. (Advisor)
Linda Subich, Dr. (Committee Member)
John Queener, Dr. (Committee Member)
Ingrid Weigold, Dr. (Committee Member)
Pages
170 p.
Subject Headings
Counseling Psychology
Keywords
STEM, Stereotype threat, vocational psychology, SCCT
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Citations
Cadaret, M. C. (2015).
Stereotype Threat as a Barrier to Women Entering Stem Careers
[Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1435939180
APA Style (7th edition)
Cadaret, Michael.
Stereotype Threat as a Barrier to Women Entering Stem Careers.
2015. University of Akron, Doctoral dissertation.
OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center
, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1435939180.
MLA Style (8th edition)
Cadaret, Michael. "Stereotype Threat as a Barrier to Women Entering Stem Careers." Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1435939180
Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)
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Document number:
akron1435939180
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948
Copyright Info
© 2015, some rights reserved.
Stereotype Threat as a Barrier to Women Entering Stem Careers by Michael C Cadaret is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Akron and OhioLINK.