Abstract of "Why Have All the Women Gone?"
Author(s):
Anne E. Preston
Although the employment of women in many occupations has increased recently, women are still underrepresented in the science and engineering professions in the United States. Women make up 29% of those employed in the social sciences, 22% in the natural sciences, and only 3% in engineering.
Much research has focused on the low entry rate of women into science and engineering professions. However, little research has been done on the related problem of women leaving these professions after entering. A survey conducted over a seven-year period estimated that women are almost twice as likely as men to leave occupations related to science and engineering for occupations in other fields, and fifteen times more likely than men to leave the labor force altogether.
The study reveals that age, field, level of degree, and family status all have effects on the exit rates of both men and women. Married women with children had the highest exit rates from science and engineering occupations, 27.4%, compared to 20.1% for the total sample of women. Married men with children, on the other hand, had a significantly lower exit rate, 10.0%. Interestingly, single men had higher exit rates than married men with children. Furthermore, research reveals that both men and women with more advanced degrees are less likely to leave their occupations. However, men are less strongly affected by level of education. About 6% of both men and women with doctoral degrees left their science and engineering occupations, but at the master's, bachelor's, and associate levels, the numbers differ significantly, with women leaving twice as often as men.
Men and women leave science and engineering occupations for four basic reasons: high skill-depreciation rates, changes in labor-market conditions that lower wages, family circumstances, and occupational mismatches. However, since women are more likely than men to have a working spouse, they are more often affected by these factors and more likely to leave their professions. Many women leave science and engineering because their skills can be transferred easily to jobs in other fields, especially when skill-depreciation rates in science and engineering are very high. Women are also more likely than men to perceive discrimination in the workplace, and therefore more likely to perceive an occupational mismatch, a mismatch of the individual's skills and interests with the job requirements.
The study also shows that younger women are more likely than older women to leave their science and engineering occupations. However, women are still more likely than men to leave the labor force in all age groups.
--abstract by Online Ethics Center staff.
Anne E. Preston, Harriman School of Management and Policy & Department of Economics, SUNY at Stony Brook.