Hier ging men na in hoeverre de theorie kan kloppen dat vrouwen niet kiezen voor zulke carrières omdat ze dit soort werk als geïsoleerd en individualistisch ervaren. Ze menen dat dit werk hen te weinig intimiteit biedt, te weinig gericht is op en te weinig verbondenheid biedt met anderen. Bovendien is het al vaker aangetoond dat vrouwen sowieso gemiddeld genomen, deze waarden iets belangrijker vinden, terwijl mannen iets meer belang hechten aan individualisme en macht.
Men vroeg aan 19-jarige studenten welke waarden ze belangrijk vonden, welke hun beroepsvoorkeur was en in welke mate ze vonden dat de genoemde waarden deel uitmaakten van de diverse beroepen.
Het resultaat was duidelijk:
- hoe meer ze waarden als verbondenheid en intimiteit belangrijk vonden, hoe minder ze geïnteresseerd waren in een carrière als wetenschapper of wiskundige
- vooral vrouwen vonden waarden als verbondenheid en intimiteit belangrijk
Dit verschil bleef bestaan, zelfs na correctie voor:
- de resultaten die ze reeds hadden behaald in deze vakken
- hun geloof dat ze succes zouden hebben, mochten ze (toch) kiezen voor zo'n carrière.
Vooraleer er teveel protest los barst: in een blog waarin deze resultaten worden besproken, haalt men aan dat er geen enkel bewijs is dat deze visie van vrouwen over deze jobs ook klopt...
uit de Blog we're only human: Are women shunning science?... According to Miami University psychological scientist Amanda Diekman, women may be opting out of science careers because they perceive these careers as lacking in communal values like intimacy, altruism, and connection with people. If correct, this theory might illuminate another mystery: Why is it that the gender gap has almost entirely disappeared in other demanding careers like medicine and lawbut stubbornly persists in science, math and engineering. Medicine is especially puzzling, because it requires the same scientific mastery as careers in research and engineering.
Women embrace communal values more than men, who tend to value individuality and power. That gender difference has been well documented over many years....
The study was straightforward. They recruited a large group of young men and women from the universitys science classes. They were about 19 years old on averageso just the age to be thinking about career choice. The researchers asked them about their career preferences, and also about their values and goalswhether they were driven by a desire for power and success or by intimacy and altruism. They also asked them to rate a whole list careers according to these values. Finally, they measured their math and science abilityand their confidence in these abilities.
... As reported on-line in the journal Psychological Science, the more strongly the students embraced values like intimacy and human connection, the less interested they were in science and math careers. And these communally-oriented students were mostly women. In other words, young women did see science and engineering careers as isolated and individualisticand whats more, as obstacles to finding meaning in their lives. This was true regardless of their past performance in math and science or their confidence in their ability to succeed in these fields. In short, the women were taking charge of their lives by making a values choice.
Heres the ironic part, though. There is no real evidence that scientists and engineers are selfish rogues, nor that scientific work is bereft of spiritual values.....
abstract van de studie: Diekman, Brown, Johnston, Clark, Seeking Congruity Between Goals and Roles: New Look at Why Women Opt Out of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Careers; Psychological Science, 14 juli 2010
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