Encouraging Young Women into STEM Careers: A Study Comparing Career Intention of Female STEM Students in China and Scotland

Abstract

Women are underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. Whilst this is a worldwide phenomenon, there are differences in how this manifests in different countries. In order to understand this more deeply in a particular context, this study investigates the employment intentions of university STEM students in Scotland and China, analysing and comparing the intentions and the reasons behind them affecting young women in the two regions. The data represented 747 students from the University of Edinburgh, a large Scottish university, and Nankai University, a large Chinese university. The data showed that women are less likely to enter STEM careers than their male peers in both regions. In general we found that women in China had more hesitations about entering STEM careers than women in Scotland, but that Chinese women studying in Scotland had more similar responses to Chinese women studying in China than they did to other women studying in Scotland. Following an initial questionnaire, a semi-structured interview was designed to explore why the factors that affect women in different regions differed. Finally, combining the results of the quantitative and qualitative research, a number of recommendations are made that could encourage more young women into STEM careers.