The Shintaro Yamada D&I Foundation, a public interest incorporated foundation, in cooperation with Deloitte Tohmatsu Financial Advisory LLC, conducted a survey of 1 first- and second-year female university students (2 in liberal arts, 520 in science). We conducted a questionnaire survey on barriers and factors and published the results.
The survey focused on the reason why in Japan, the percentage of women choosing science and engineering departments when entering university is low.In particular, we will analyze factors such as the childhood experiences of women who chose liberal arts and went on to university, the environment they grew up in, their schools, and their relatives, and examine why they did not choose science majors and what influences women's choices in science majors. The cause was clarified.In addition, in the survey, based on the decision-making status of choosing the liberal arts and sciences, students were classified into "those who go on to the sciences (aspiring to the sciences and the gray zone of the sciences)*" and "those who went on to the liberal arts (those who aspire to the liberal arts and the "gray zone of the humanities")*. are being analyzed.
According to the survey results, among female students, whether or not they ``feel that there is an advantage in going on to a science major or getting a job'' and ``having a science subject that they are good at'' are the most important at the third year of junior high school, which is the stage before choosing the liberal arts or liberal arts. It was found that this has a strong influence on the way people think about the humanities and sciences (aspirations to pursue a science major, a gray zone for a science major, a desire to pursue a liberal arts major, a gray zone for a liberal arts major).
Of these, 1.5 times more people who went on to science majors answered that there were science subjects that they were good at compared to those who went on to liberal arts majors, and more than 3 times as many answered that they felt there would be an advantage in going to science majors or getting a job. I answered that there was. ``Feeling the benefits of going on to a science major or getting a job'' is based on ``science role models, including parents, who have a positive influence'' and ``science experience (work experience, etc.) during junior high and high school that leads to an image of oneself becoming a science career in the future.'' It was found that the influence of "opportunities for experience during junior high and high school" that students had during their junior high and high school years.
From this result, the presence or absence of a "science subject that you are good at" is an influence before deciding whether to go on to higher education or choose the liberal arts, but an even more important factor is that if you do not "feel that there is an advantage in going to a science major or getting a job," the reason for your reluctance is that The hypothesis is that there is a possibility that there are female students who chose liberal arts.
The survey also compared factors such as ``the proportion of girls in school who attend science majors'' and ``their parents' academic background.''Although there was some correlation between these factors and whether or not students felt there would be an advantage in pursuing a science major or getting a job, their influence on female students' choices in the liberal arts and sciences was limited.Among those who went on to pursue a liberal arts degree, the percentage of people who felt there would be an advantage in going on to a science major or getting a job was higher when their mother worked in a science career compared to when their mother did not (no close family member working in a science career). It decreases by about two-thirds.
From this, the hypothesis holds that if a woman experiences the difficulties of working in a science career before choosing to go on to higher education or choose the liberal arts, it will have a negative impact on ``perceiving the benefits of pursuing a career in science or getting a job.'' This suggests that it is not enough just to have female role models in science-related occupations around you.Additionally, among female students who ultimately chose to pursue a liberal arts degree, the percentage of those who felt that there would be an advantage in pursuing a science major or getting a job increased by 1.3 times by having a science experience during junior high and high school.
Based on these facts, it is thought that providing concrete images of women who are active in science fields, or providing science experiences that lead to such images, will encourage female students to choose science fields.
*Students pursuing science majors
Desiring a science major: Those who aspired to pursue a science major at the third year of junior high school and went on to a science faculty.
Science gray zone: People who wanted to major in the liberal arts at the third year of junior high school but eventually switched to science, or those who were undecided at the third year of junior high school and ended up enrolling in a science major.
*Students pursuing liberal arts studies
Desiring a liberal arts major: Those who aspired to pursue a liberal arts major at the third year of middle school and went on to a liberal arts faculty.
Liberal arts gray zone: Those who wanted to major in the sciences at the third year of junior high school but ended up switching to liberal arts, or those who were undecided at the third year of junior high school and ended up enrolling in a liberal arts faculty.
