The Perks of Being a Female Scientist

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Although many women begin their studies in these fields, their numbers drop at every stage of educational and professional advancement. At the undergraduate level in the U.S., about half of all students are women. Yet in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math—STEM for short—women account for only 39 percent of bachelor's degrees and 35 percent of Ph.D.s. At the end of this leaky educational pipeline, only 27 percent of the people working in STEM-related occupations are women.

Educators and policy makers have deployed various strategies to encourage women to stay in STEM careers, but the effectiveness of these campaigns could be improved. Measures to increase the number of women in these careers typically center on the barriers, biases and stereotypes that discourage them—a so-called prevention focus. The obstacles can be formidable, but emphasizing only the negatives can be demoralizing. Psychology studies find that when students feel that life events are out of their control, their performance suffers. Similarly, teaching women about the cognitive burden of stereotypes without giving them tools to overcome these challenges can be counterproductive, harming their performance.

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