Weeded Out? Gendered Responses to Failing Calculus

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Education
• STEM

Background:

• Women are graduating college at higher rates than men but remain underrepresented in STEM fields.
• The reasons for women's underrepresentation in STEM are complex and not fully understood.
• "Weed-out" courses are often cited as a reason for students leaving the STEM pipeline, but how women and men react to failing them is not well-documented.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether women who fail a STEM "weed-out" course are more likely to switch to a non-STEM major.
• To examine the impact of failing a STEM "weed-out" course on women's likelihood of earning a bachelor's degree in a STEM field.

Main Methods:

• Utilized individual-level data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS) Postsecondary Transcript Study (PETS).
• Analyzed data from 1988-2000, focusing on students who took introductory calculus courses.
• Compared degree attainment in STEM fields between men and women who failed the course.

Main Results:

• Women who failed an introductory calculus course were substantially less likely to earn a bachelor's degree in a STEM field.
• This finding suggests a significant gender disparity in response to academic challenges in STEM.
• The results provide empirical evidence linking "weed-out" course failure to lower STEM degree attainment for women.

Conclusions:

• Failure in introductory STEM courses, like calculus, may be a significant factor contributing to the underrepresentation of women in STEM.
• Understanding student reactions to "weed-out" courses is crucial for developing interventions to improve STEM retention for women.
• Further research is needed to explore the mechanisms behind this disparity and to inform policy and practice in STEM education.