to see the entire research report - Rowan - Rowan University

Remember that Rowan students were asked specifically about women pursuing careers in
science, engineering or math, while the Texas A&M students were asked about women
pursuing a career in your major field (engineering or business, as two non-traditional
fields for women).
TABLE IIG-2
STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF PROBLEMS FOR WOMEN PURSUING CAREER AT TEXAS
A&M AND ROWAN
(% perceiving as a problem)
PROBLEM
(Rowan’s wording, when significantly different, in
parenthesis)
Discriminatory attitudes on the part of professors in
the field (Discriminatory attitudes on the part of
teachers or others in scientific fields generally)
Discriminatory attitudes on the part of professionals in
the field
TEXAS A&M
ENGINEERING
AND BUSINESS
(1995)
ROWAN
ENGINEERING
(2000)
Males Females Males Females
29.4 47.5
31.5 54.0
56.5 67.2
Demands of field that would pose conflict between
career and family (Possible conflicts between career
and family responsibilities)
29.8 48.2 75.6 82.1
View that women in the field are unfeminine 27.6 27.3 42.0 43.3
Lack of encouragement from friends or family 22.5 11.5 44.8 34.3
Lack of confidence about being able to complete the
work
26.8 45.3 49.8 50.7
Lack of contact with women professors in the field 29.4 47.5 56.5 68.7
(Lack of female role models)
Competitive atmosphere of field (Women cannot be as
competitive as science classes require)
24.4 34.5 27.4 22.4
This comparison raises several interesting points. First, the men at Rowan seem to be
much more aware of possible problems for women pursuing the careers of science,
engineering and math than the male students in engineering and business at Texas A&M.
As a result, the gender gap in perception of problems is smaller at Rowan.
Second, for all questions except the last, the Rowan perception of problems for
women is higher than that of the students at Texas A&M. Whether this is because
IIG-243