Parental Support Content and Quality: Supporting Girls’ and Women’s Interest and Persistence in STEM

Abstract

Parental support is a robust facilitator of girls’ and women’s interest and persistence in STEM fields. This study deepens our understanding of parental support in girls’ and women’s interest and persistence in STEM by exploring the (a) content and (b) quality of parental support. We interviewed 54 Black, Latina, and non-Hispanic White college women majoring in STEM in the United States to learn about their college experiences and the support their parents provided. Through an iterative coding approach, we identified five types of support messages: informational (e.g. advice), tangible (e.g. resources), emotional (e.g. comfort and empathy), esteem (e.g. encouragement and affirmations), and network (e.g. social connections) that align with supportive communication literature. We define and provide exemplars of these five types of support to illustrate the complexity of supportive communication. The results reveal variety in both content and perceptions of quality of each type of support. These findings extend our understanding of how diverse supportive messages can help women combat gender-related social disadvantages in high-barrier, male-dominated majors and careers. We conclude by discussing best practices for support providers and suggesting avenues for future researchers interested in parental support of girls’ and women’s interest and persistence in STEM.