Barriers to a STEM Career: Math Anxiety and the Adult Female

Introduction

In a U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee Report entitled STEM Education: Preparing for the Jobs of the Future, Senator Robert Casey (D-PA), committee chairman, noted that the United States is “failing to produce an ample supply of workers to meet the growing needs of STEM employers” (Casey, 2012, p. 3). The report states that for the United States to remain competitive in the global marketplace, prospective employees will require the core competencies found in college and university graduates with STEM degrees (Casey, 2012, p. 4). However, despite the growth and demand in STEM-related job opportunities that the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics reports, graduation rates for STEM disciplines remain stagnant, especially compared to the creation of STEM professionals in other nations (Doerschuk et.al., 2016, Jones et. al., 2018). The shortage of skilled workers in U.S. STEM professions is attributed to the underrepresentation of females and other marginalized groups among STEM majors and those applying for STEM careers after graduation (Davison, Jew, & Davenport, 2014; Ing, 2014; Ortiz & Sriraman, 2015; Doerschuk et.al., 2016). Current statistics cite that approximately 40% of all students who enter into a higher education STEM degree program will actually graduate (Stanberry, 2018).

Although 21st-century global research has reported a significant narrowing of the gender divide in STEM course achievement, societal influences still favor males in fostering understanding of STEM concepts, sustained by academic organizational policies and educational practices (Williams, 2013; Ceci, 2018). The theory of a gender divide has been widely disproved, yet research studies confirm that women globally continue to encounter dysfunctional beliefs and gender stereotyping that ultimately contribute to lower self-esteem and negative self-efficacy beliefs among females (Kapitanoff & Pandey, 2017). Exposed to negative societal and academic perceptions, many females will also suffer from math anxiety, a psychological reaction that results in diminished learning capacity, especially when women engage in the complex subjects found in the STEM curriculum (Ashcraft, 2002; Ashcraft & Kirk, 2001, p. 226). Females are more susceptible than males to math anxiety, since its origins are linked to gender bias that favors males. Such bias is perpetrated during early childhood, reinforced through elementary and secondary education, and affects perceptions of learning ability, especially when students are confronted during higher education with complex course content (Finlayson, 2014). Widespread research outcomes have linked societal beliefs, academic context, and math anxiety to self-defeating behaviors, poor performance, and academic failure of females (Ashcraft, 2002; Kapitanoff & Pandey, 2017). As a result, females experiencing negative influences and math anxiety will avoid college majors—especially in the STEM field—where they have a greater risk of failure (Rinn, Miner, & Taylor, 2013; Sass, 2015).

This chapter has three objectives that will provide greater insights into the root cause of lack of female representation in STEM coursework and occupations. These objectives focus on new perceptions based on qualitative research results into math anxiety as a barrier to degree attainment; the role of the academic organization in supporting achievement and its failure to do so; and recognition of the need for reform by the American Statistical Association (ASA), the guidelines provided, and the measurement of success in adoption of new practices to support degree attainment.