Career advancement outcomes in academic science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM): gender, mentoring resources, and homophily

This dissertation examines gender differences in career advancement outcomes among academic science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) scientists. In particular, this research examines effects of gender, PhD advisors and postdoctoral supervisors mentoring resources and gender homophily in the mentoring dyads on the career advancement outcomes at early career stages.

Female academic scientists have disadvantages in the career progress in the academic STEM. They tend to fall behind throughout their career paths and to leave the field compared to their male colleagues. Researchers have found that gender differences in the career advancement are shaped by gender-biased evaluations derived from gender stereotypes. Other studies demonstrate the positive impacts of mentoring and gender homophily in the mentoring dyads. To add greater insights to the current findings of female academic scientists’ career disadvantages, this dissertation investigates comprehensive effects of gender, mentoring, and gender homophily in the mentoring dyads on female scientists’ career advancement outcomes in academic science.

Based on the Status Characteristics Theory, the concept of mentoring, Social Capital Theory, and Ingroup Bias Theory, causal path models are developed to test direct and indirect effects of gender, mentoring resources, and gender homophily on STEM faculty’s career advancement. The research models were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) with data collected from a national survey, funded by the National Science Foundation, completed in 2011 by tenured and tenure-track academic STEM faculty from higher education institutions in the United States. Findings suggest that there is no gender difference in career advancement controlling for mentoring resources and gender homophily in the mentoring dyads and other factors including research productivity and domestic caregiving responsibilities. Findings also show that the positive relationship between gender homophily in mentoring dyads and the reception of the mentoring resources, especially regarding providing help on career development and research collaboration, lead to enhanced early stage career advancement. Insights from the findings contribute both to theoretical understandings of the overall effects of gender, mentoring, and gender homophily in the mentoring dyads on female academic scientists’ career advancement at early career stages and to provide evidence of positive effects of same-gender mentoring dyads to universities.