“Female Experts and Peers Are ‘Social Vaccines’ That Strengthen Women’s Decisions to Pursue STEM”
Dr. Nilanjana Dasgupta discusses research identifying protective factors in learning environments that increase girls and women’s interest and participation in STEM versus other factors that decrease their interest and participation. Protective factors often involve interactions with same-sex experts and peers in STEM who enhance girls’ and women’s self-concept implicitly and unconsciously. We will look at some concrete interventions emerging from our research data that can be and implemented in the classroom to increase girls’ and women’s engagement in STEM.
