Investigating Students’ Academic Self-Concepts and Persistence in STEM: How Do Gender Differences Relate to Female Representation?

Abstract

The research literature often treats STEM subjects as a homogeneous group despite considerable differences in gender composition. This article examines gender differences in students’ academic self-concepts across STEM fields with different shares of female students, and how students’ academic self-concepts affect their graduation likelihood. This paper argues that gender disparities in STEM students’ academic self-concepts favour male students and systematically relate to gender composition in the respective subject. Using student-cohort data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), I performed regression analyses to predict students’ academic self-concepts and their likelihood of graduating. The study revealed that female students exhibit weaker academic self-concepts only in fields with either low (< 30%) or high (> 50%) female representation, with the latter presenting the larger gender gap. Moreover, students’ academic self-concepts relate to their graduation likelihood in STEM fields with low female presentation. The research underscores the necessity of distinguishing between STEM fields when examining gender disparities in academic self-concepts, challenging the prevalent view of treating STEM as a uniform group.