Sexism in STEM: Intragroup Dynamics Within Mixed-Sex Engineering Teams
Open Access
- Author:
- Mastrangelo, Allison
- Area of Honors:
- Labor and Employment Relations
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Kameron Carter, Thesis Supervisor
Jean Marie Phillips, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- sexism
STEM
teamwork
sexism in STEM
sexism in STEM teams
diversity
discrimination - Abstract:
- Although various studies have assessed sexism in teamwork and sexism in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math), there is limited research on women’s experiences in STEM-oriented team settings. It is crucial to examine sexism in this domain, given the rise of teamwork structures in the workforce and the known disadvantages women face in both teams and STEM contexts. This thesis examines sexism in STEM teams through an Intragroup Dynamics Survey, which investigated gender differences regarding students’ perceptions of how they were treated by teammates. Survey items were categorized as Interacting with Teammates, Expecting Quality, or Team Contribution, with one uncategorized item assessing interruptions. The Intragroup Dynamics Survey received 251 eligible responses from undergraduate engineering students at the Pennsylvania State University, University Park campus. The results revealed a significant gender difference within the Interacting with Teammates category, such that women indicated significantly more negative teammate interactions than their male peers. This finding aligned with our hypothesis that women would report significantly more negative team experiences than men. However, a correlation table also revealed intriguing findings that were not predicted by our research team. Specifically, racial minorities and international students indicated significantly lower Team Contribution scores and more frequent interruptions compared to White students and domestic students. Overall, this thesis reveals disparities for minority students in STEM teams and provides a foundation for further research in this domain.