The Glass Obstacle Course: Informal and Formal Barriers For Women Ph.D. Students in STEM Fields

Abstract

A new metaphor is proposed for understanding the experiences of women pursuing Ph.D.s in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, based on a study of women in a U.S. Ph.D. program.& The notion of the “glass obstacle course” captures the unequal gendered processes at work in women’s graduate careers, including exclusion from the “Old Boys’ Club,” outright sexism, a lack of women role models, and difficult work-life choices. In-depth interviews elucidate the gendered, invisible (glass), and influential aspects of these barriers and the agentic strategies our respondents utilized to navigate them.& In this way, career pathways for women scientists and engineers are shaped by ideological and structural constraints, informal and formal biases, and active resistance or accommodation to them.& Such accumulated disadvantages can impact women’s attrition from and satisfaction with their chosen STEM fields.