Gender representation and academic achievement among STEM-interested students in college STEM courses

Substantial gender equity gaps in postsecondary degree completion persist within many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, and these disparities have not narrowed during the 21st century. Various explanations of this phenomenon have been offered; one possibility that has received limited attention is that the sparse representation of women itself has adverse effects on the academic achievement-and ultimately the persistence and graduation-of women who take STEM courses. This study explored the relationship between two forms of gender representation (i.e., the proportion of female students within a course and the presence of a female instructor) and grades within a sample of 11,958 STEM-interested undergraduates enrolled in 8686 different STEM courses at 20 colleges and universities. Female student representation within a course predicted greater academic achievement in STEM for all students, and these findings were generally stronger among female students than male students. Female students also consistently benefitted more than male students from having a female STEM instructor. These findings were largely similar across a range of student and course characteristics and were robust to different analytic approaches; a notable exception was that female student representation had particularly favorable outcomes for female students (relative to male students) within mathematics/statistics and computer science courses.