UCLA Center for the Study of Women

Despite the plethora of studies examining the root causes of the gender gap in STEM, a significant problem is that most research considers STEM fields in the aggregate and does not account for possible differences in the factors that predict interest and enrollment in specific STEM fields. Because not all STEM fields face the same degree of gender segregation, we cannot expect all STEM fields to attract the same types of students, especially since students likely have different motivations for pursuing one STEM field versus another.