Exploring Gender Differences in Tertiary Mathematics-Intensive Fields: A Critical Review of Social Cognitive Career Theory

TL;DR

This paper critically reviews how Social Cognitive Career Theory explains gender disparities in math-intensive fields, emphasizing the need to incorporate cultural, emotional, and longitudinal factors for a more comprehensive understanding.

Contribution

It identifies key areas for refining SCCT by integrating cultural diversity, emotional factors, and longitudinal analysis to better explain gender differences in STEM choices.

Findings

SCCT is widely supported by empirical studies.

Cultural and emotional factors are underrepresented in current models.

Longitudinal studies are needed to understand motivation over time.

Abstract

Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) has been extensively employed to elucidate the enduring gender differences in mathematics-intensive fields, with a particular emphasis on the complex interplay of motivational factors and extra-personal influences contributing to the underrepresentation of women. Although a plethora of empirical studies corroborate SCCT, three crucial aspects for refinement have come to the fore. First, the theory should place a more substantial emphasis on how cultural and contextual diversity influences academic choices. Second, given the dynamic nature of motivation, which evolves over time, more longitudinal analyses are imperative to capture their temporal trajectory, in contrast to the predominantly cross-sectional empirical studies. Finally, considering the intricate interplay between emotion and motivation, integrating the dimension of emotion into SCCT would significantly augment its explanatory power and provide a more comprehensive understanding of academic selection processes.