Perceptions and Portrayals: The Media’s Influence on Women’s Career Selection in STEM (2022)
- The HPIC
- 7 days ago
- 25 min read
Abstract
This qualitative narrative pilot study investigates how media portrayals of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) may influence women's career decisions in these fields. While the underrepresentation of women in STEM is well-documented, this study explores whether representation in media serves as a motivating or reinforcing factor for young women to pursue STEM pathways. Through an interview and a journal-based document analysis, the study examines the narratives of two women of color in STEM and uncovers the shared impact of media, role models, and mentorship on their career trajectories. Findings suggest that STEM identity is cultivated early, often catalyzed by the visibility of women in science-related roles. This research contributes to the discourse on sociocultural capital and its influence in shaping career aspirations, urging future studies to explore the role of media in filling representational gaps.
Keywords: narrative, media, sociocultural theory, women, STEM identity
Introduction
On my first day of teaching at a Science and Technology academy, I asked over 120 students to jot down their “dream job” on a sticky note. These colorful notes stayed posted all year long, and only two of them mentioned STEM careers. I can still picture the words “Veterinarian” and “Biologist” scribbled across bright paper. It was a powerful reminder that even in a STEM-centered environment, few girls envisioned themselves in these fields.
The Problem
The gender gap in STEM has persisted despite decades of national attention. Women make up only 28% of the workforce in STEM and are significantly underrepresented in many specific disciplines (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019). These disparities not only reflect systemic barriers but also signify lost potential for innovation and diversity in problem-solving. As STEM careers increasingly define the future of work and progress, the absence of women’s voices in these spaces carries significant consequences.
Core factors contributing to gender gaps in STEM include cultural stereotypes, lack of role models, math anxiety, and the masculine-dominated culture of many STEM industries (Ceci & Williams, 2007). While solutions are often proposed, one critical lever—media representation—is frequently overlooked. Media has the potential to amplify visibility, disrupt stereotypes, and inspire belief in possibility.
Sociocultural Theory
“If she can see it, she can be it.” This refrain is often used in media literacy circles, and it reflects the foundational principle of sociocultural theory. Vygotsky emphasized that learning and development first occur socially (intermental) before being internalized individually (intramental). Bandura’s theory of observational learning also reinforces the notion that people model their aspirations based on those they see in their social environment—including those portrayed in media.
In this study, I explore how media serves as a cultural signal and social context. When children see someone who looks like them in a STEM role, they begin to believe that possibility is real.
Study Significance
STEM jobs are projected to grow by 8% between 2019–2029, more than twice the growth rate for all occupations (BLS). But unless we expand who sees themselves as future STEM leaders, that growth will deepen rather than reduce inequality. This study investigates how media representation can serve as an early building block of STEM identity.
Research Question R1: How does the representation of women in STEM in media influence career selection?
This study examines that question through the lens of two women of color in STEM—one through an in-depth interview and one through a guided journal reflection.
Literature Review
Background Information
As early as the coining of the term STEM, studies addressing the disproportionate number of women in STEM fields began to emerge. Inspired by earlier research on girls in math and science, Suzanne Silverman and Alice M. Pritchard conducted a 1993 study in Connecticut schools that focused specifically on girls’ participation in technology education. Their goal was to identify strategies to increase enrollment numbers for girls in these courses and to reshape public perceptions of women’s potential success in technology-related fields.
At the time, their recommendations reflected what was observed in classrooms: teachers needed additional support to effectively implement STEM curricula. Strikingly, their findings also highlighted issues that persist to this day—namely, a lack of visible role models and classroom cultures that reinforce gender stereotypes.
Gender Stereotypes – 1981
In a foundational 1981 study, Sandra Lipzits Bem introduced what is now known as gender schema theory. Bem found that gender roles are established early in childhood, are reinforced across multiple social contexts, and differ significantly between girls and boys. The theory posits that young children begin internalizing culturally specific notions of gender at a young age, which then shape their self-concept and career outlooks.
“In particular, the theory proposes that sex-typing results from the fact that the self-concept itself gets assimilated to the gender schema.” (Bem, 1981)
That same year, Linda Gottfredson published a developmental theory of occupational aspirations grounded in socialization. Her framework identified four developmental stages of self-concept that influence career preferences:
Orientation to size and power (ages 3–5)
Orientation to sex roles (ages 6–8)
Orientation to social valuation (ages 9–13)
Orientation to the internal, unique self (age 14+)
According to Gottfredson, as children internalize these stages, they begin narrowing their career aspirations based on perceived conflicts between occupational roles and their self-concept—particularly regarding gender.
Gender Stereotypes – 2008
Despite notable progress, outdated stereotypes around gender and work persist well into the 21st century. A 2008 study by Tang, Pan, and Newmeyer revealed that high school students still engaged in self-restricted career selection based on gendered expectations. Key findings included:
Girls leaned toward careers focused on service and helping others
Boys tended to select careers involving data, machinery, or technical systems
While both groups expressed interest across categories, they hesitated to pursue careers that deviated from perceived gender norms
The study concluded that:
“The significant paths from self-efficacy to career interests for both high school girls and boys suggest that career self-efficacy is strongly related to career interests across genders.” (Tang et al., 2008)
Even today, the media continues to reinforce rigid gender messaging. For example, daytime children’s television often associates dolls and nurturing roles with girls (accompanied by colors like pink and purple), while boys are linked with trucks, action, and colors like red and blue. Similarly, when STEM professionals in media are predominantly portrayed as men, children receive implicit cues about which fields are “for them” and which are not.
Gaps in the Literature
While several studies explore the intersection of gender and STEM, few draw explicit, cohesive connections between media representation and career selection—particularly for girls of color. For example, Hopper-Losenicky’s 2017 study investigated how women in media influenced women’s STEM career trajectories. However, the study did not focus solely on media figures in STEM and lacked racial diversity among participants: all 33 women interviewed were white. This points to a glaring gap in the literature—namely, the need for intersectional and culturally responsive research that explores how diverse media representation might impact the STEM career decisions of girls from underrepresented communities.
Methodology
The best way to hear about women and their experiences shaping their STEM identity via media in their childhood is to go directly to current STEM professionals and practitioners. In this narrative qualitative study, I explored the early childhood experiences, secondary schooling, and current career experiences of women in STEM. I was intentional about selecting participants and employed unique methods to source them.
I began by creating a Google Form to share on social media (see Appendix A). In the form, I described the research study, its purpose, and why it matters to me. The form collected basic contact information from interested participants and included a series of questions to ensure fit for the study:
What is your current job title?
Briefly describe your job.
What branch of STEM does your job BEST fall under?
What media form was your inspiration found in?
Briefly share the character you were inspired by and the title.
Based on the responses, I reached out to potential participants via email. However, many did not respond—even after follow-up. I realized I would need to get creative in my recruitment strategy.
In February 2018, a research study conducted by 21st Century Fox, the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and J. Walter Thompson Intelligence explored the impact of Dr. Dana Scully, a character in the hit science-fiction drama The X-Files, on women in STEM. The study found:
“When it comes to attitudes toward STEM, regular viewers of The X-Files have far more positive beliefs about STEM than other women in the sample,” and“Women who regularly watch The X-Files are significantly more likely to have considered going into a STEM career, majored in a STEM field in college, and worked in a STEM profession.”
This became known as “The Scully Effect.” I used this phenomenon to source participants by searching Twitter for the hashtag #TheScullyEffect, where women worldwide shared how Dr. Dana Scully influenced their decision to pursue STEM. I replied to several posts with my contact form, ultimately securing an interview with Dr. Jyoti Mishra.
Dr. Jyoti Mishra is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California–San Diego (UCSD). She is trained in computational, cognitive, and translational neurosciences and is the founder of the Neural Engineering & Translation Labs (NEATLabs) at UCSD. Her lab develops digital technologies for scalable brain health mapping and precision therapeutics. Dr. Mishra’s interdisciplinary research sits at the intersection of neuroscience and digital engineering, leveraging machine learning to personalize and inform mental healthcare, education, and even climate change adaptation efforts.
Our interview followed a peer-reviewed interview protocol and was conducted via Zoom. With permission, it was recorded through both Zoom (audio/visual) and Otter.ai (audio only), then transcribed, coded, and reviewed for accuracy.
In addition to the interview, I conducted document analysis to further explore how media shaped women's perceptions and pathways in STEM. The participant for this portion, Dedra “Dee” Townsend, is a mechanical engineer and design engineer for the U.S. Navy, specializing in ammunition for gun systems. Dee was recruited via Twitter and responded to a journal reflection with the following prompts:
What is your current role?
Do you know other women who do a job similar to yours?
What was your college experience like? Consider how your identity played a role.
Think about your childhood. What mindsets did you have surrounding STEM, specifically women in STEM?
Think about your media intake growing up. What messages did you receive surrounding women in STEM?
Think about present-day media. What are your thoughts about how women in STEM are represented?
Research Design and Approach
Since the purpose of this study was to capture individual experiences, I used a narrative research approach. I draw on the following definition of narrative inquiry from Connelly and Clandinin (2006):
"Arguments for the development and use of narrative inquiry come out of a view of human experience in which humans, individually and socially, lead storied lives. People shape their daily lives by stories of who they and others are and as they interpret their past in terms of these stories. Story, in the current idiom, is a portal through which a person enters the world and by which their experience of the world is interpreted and made personally meaningful… Narrative inquiry, the study of experience as story, then, is first and foremost a way of thinking about experience." (p. 477)
Narrative research requires studying one or two individuals in depth, gathering data through their unique stories, and being intentional in organizing and interpreting those stories (Creswell & Poth, 2018, p. 66).
For this reason, I used open-ended questions during the interview—questions that were peer-reviewed and edited for clarity. The interview was intentionally loosely structured, allowing participants to guide the conversation and shape their stories. Drawing on Seidman’s (2005) interviewing techniques, I prioritized listening over leading, followed up on what the participant said, avoided closed or leading questions, and remained open to unexpected turns in the conversation. I explicitly framed the interview as an opportunity for the participant to share her story.
Core Research Question
R1: How does the representation of women in STEM in media influence career selection?
This question allowed space for participants to consider not only the impact of media on their perceptions of STEM but also how they compared past and present representations of women in science. Participants expanded the discussion to include reflections on role models and the broader cultural positioning of women in STEM.
Data Analysis and Coding
After collecting the interview and journal data, I transcribed both into field notes. I engaged in multiple peer review sessions to refine my themes and finalize the coding framework. Below is the coding table developed for this study.
Figure 1
Interview and Document Analysis Coding
THEME | SUBTHEME | ASSOCIATED KEYWORDS |
Childhood | Influence | Parents; Father; Mother; Television; Journals/Magazines; XFiles |
Early Adulthood | Secondary Schooling | College; Graduate School |
Adulthood | Career | Mentor |
The themes and codes illustrated key parallels between the two participants’ experiences, making it possible to thread together their separate narratives and highlight the significance of media and mentorship across life stages. Analytic memos (Appendices B and C) further supported this narrative weaving.
Ethics
Though this study did not explore a sensitive topic, I ensured all participants had a clear understanding of the study’s purpose and what participation entailed. Participation was voluntary. My consent process included detailed descriptions in the initial contact form and verbal reminders during our interview. I refrained from pressing on any topic where the participant appeared hesitant, ensuring comfort and autonomy throughout.
Validity and Credibility
Peer review played a critical role in this study. Feedback was used to improve the interview protocol, fine-tune open-ended questions, and guide the data analysis process. At least three peers contributed to the coding and review of my field notes, helping ensure that my interpretations remained grounded in the data.
Positionality and Researcher Bias
I identify with two historically underrepresented groups in STEM: women and Black individuals. Until my doctoral program, I did not personally know any women in STEM who looked like me. As a child, I lacked the role models that would have helped me envision myself in a science-based career. The phrase “you don’t know what you don’t know” resonates deeply with me—girls cannot aspire to careers they’ve never seen represented.
Journey to Topic
By third grade, I had convinced myself I “wasn’t a math person.” I gravitated toward reading and art, while math provoked dread. I remember working through long division problems on the chalkboard my parents installed in our home—frustrated and overwhelmed.
At ten years old, I decided I would pursue a career in fashion, heavily influenced by media like The Cheetah Girls. In college, I designed my own major: Communication and Visual Rhetoric. I took courses in everything from fashion and PR to communications, while participating in media-oriented extracurriculars. That experience taught me an important lesson: representation matters.
As I searched for internships, I found few spaces that reflected me. I began to wonder whether I wanted to build a career in an industry that felt exclusionary. Eventually, I pivoted toward education, hoping to expose students to career options I had never seen growing up.
Personal and Professional Connection to Topic
Looking back, it’s clear how external influences shaped my career choices. Fashion was sparked by The Cheetah Girls. My pivot came from not seeing Black women represented in that space. Representation matters—not just in theory, but in practice. Had I seen more examples across disciplines, my journey might have looked different.
Today, I support educators in implementing ethical artificial intelligence curricula. I help students and teachers explore how AI impacts daily life and the future of work. As society continues to evolve, the STEM gap will widen unless those roles are made visible and accessible to a diverse range of students.
Through this study, I aim to illuminate how media—when done right—can help build STEM identity and shape more inclusive futures for girls.
Preliminary Findings
Each of the two participants in this study contributed through a different method—either a recorded interview or a document analysis via journal reflection. Field notes were taken, transcribed, and annotated with observer comments. These were shared with peer group members, and codes were developed collaboratively during multiple review sessions.
Participant Narratives
Jyoti
Dr. Jyoti Mishra is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California–San Diego (UCSD). She is trained in computational, cognitive, and translational neurosciences and is the founder of the Neural Engineering & Translation Labs (NEATLabs). Her lab develops digital technologies for scalable brain health mapping, monitoring, and precision therapeutics. Her research lies at the intersection of neuroscience and digital engineering, integrating machine learning to inform mental healthcare, education, and climate adaptation efforts—interests that began in her early childhood in India while watching her father.
“My father did neurosurgery and so, I used to see things from a clinical perspective. Sometimes his patients would come visit him at home. We didn't really talk so much about what happens inside the brain and how the brain codes its thoughts, but his major role was clinical, and he would treat patients who had strokes in the brain or blood clots in the brain. And what I’d see is that he was very successful in his profession, and he was able to treat and bring back a lot of people from having really poor life quality or not even being able to move…”
From childhood into her teenage years, Jyoti’s love for the brain continued to deepen. She described playfully mimicking her parents in the mirror—pretending to give lectures about the brain to an imaginary audience. Though neuroscience wasn't offered as a formal subject in school, she opted to focus on biology when it came time to choose her academic track in 11th grade.
She explained that in India, students must commit to a career track earlier than in the U.S.:
“In India, our education is a little bit different from here [America]. In high school, we choose our stream of learning… whether we want to choose the sciences or the arts or commerce. And we choose that in 11th grade and 12th grade—we have to know that already.”
In addition to her father’s influence, Jyoti also benefited from the presence of her mother, a medical educator.
“My mother was always… you know… because she was an educator, she really felt it important that her students, which were medical students for her, knew what the latest developments in science and medicine were. She always used to get, you know, journals in the field home. We just had magazines lying around; we had scientific journals lying around, and I would flip through them. If there was an article that she was going to teach about, she talked about it, and I learned about it. Sometimes I’d get to know a lot more just from conversing with her.”
While her parents helped shape her STEM identity early on, Jyoti also acknowledged the subtle yet significant influence of media. She recalled the dominant presence of soap operas in Indian television during the early 1990s—and her lack of interest in them.
“In Indian culture, we have a lot of soap operas, and again, the woman is really the homemaker. So I didn’t really have much interest in watching. I never really gravitated to the Indian TV shows because I didn’t see anyone there I ever related to. I was like, ‘Who are these people?’ They looked like my grandma, but they were 20 years old, or whatever.”
Jyoti noted that many women in her peer group eventually dropped out of STEM after high school, often prohibited from traveling abroad for post-secondary education or pushed into domestic roles. Her own scientific trajectory, however, was reinforced by a different kind of media representation. When asked about impactful media, she lit up while describing The X-Files.
“I think this was post-globalization, and this was after the mid-90s; this is when we had MTV and other channels come to India—and that’s when The X-Files came too. I was really a big sci-fi fan. I loved reading sci-fi novels in middle school. And so just naturally from that, The X-Files became one of my favorite shows in high school… I think I just really admired the female character—that she was really hand-in-hand with the male character and had a very important scientific role in every episode… I really liked how she portrayed herself. She had humor in a flippant way. She was admired for her expertise. She was there because she knew what she needed to do, and she was good at it.”
This representation helped solidify Jyoti’s self-image as a future scientist. After earning her bachelor’s degree, she moved to the United States to pursue graduate studies in computational neuroscience. Of the eight admissions offers extended that year in her program, only one went to a woman—her.
She described experiencing a sense of culture shock and self-doubt in her early years in the U.S., but persisted through graduate school. Now in her professional career, she’s committed to mentoring women in STEM and building the support system she once sought.
“I think part of being successful is trying to associate with people who’ve come before you, and have been able to cross those barriers and meet the challenges. That’s always been a conscious part of my life… I’d say about 65% to 70% of people that I mentor right now are also women, and that partly comes from the fact that women contact women for mentorship. If you’re an aware mentor, you know the kinds of challenges women may face—especially women of color. I give the time and energy to provide that mentorship. I look up to the women who are further ahead than me, and I help the women who are coming up as well.”
The theme of mentorship as both legacy and necessity surfaced heavily throughout Jyoti’s narrative—and is reinforced by the study’s second participant.
Dedra Townsend (Dee)
Dedra Townsend (Dee) is a mechanical engineer serving as a design engineer for the U.S. Navy. She designs ammunition systems for naval use. Dee participated in the document analysis portion of the study and submitted a journal reflection in response to a set of guided prompts.
Much like Jyoti, Dee was introduced to STEM through her father.
“My father was an electrical engineer, and he introduced me to his colleagues who are still my mentors today. Out of the number of his colleagues, he made sure that I was introduced to the women in various STEM professions so I could see that someone that looked like me can achieve this too.”
Interestingly, Dee’s early career aspirations were not engineering-focused. She wanted to be a veterinarian, though at the time she didn’t realize that veterinary medicine was a STEM field. She remembered watching Animal Planet and envisioning herself in that role.
“I loved the idea of working in a zoo and raising wildlife. When I saw those roles on television, I could imagine myself doing it. I remember thinking, ‘They are super talented.’”
Eventually, she chose to pursue engineering and credits much of her positive experience in the field to the mentorship she received along the way.
“I know women who do similar jobs as I do in support of the Navy. For example, my mentor is a woman who is a lead computer scientist. My co-worker is a woman who is leading a project that will one day be used by our sailors. I have other mentors who are women in jobs I want to be in one day. Women in the STEM field are already low, but in engineering it’s even more scarce. I’m lucky to be in a generation where I see more women trying to dominate a male-dominated field.”
Both participants shared how media, parental influence, and access to mentorship supported their formation of a STEM identity. The personal stories collected reflect that representation—whether through a fictional FBI agent or real-life engineers—matters deeply in helping girls and women imagine their place in STEM.
Conclusions, Impact, and Action Plan
The goal of this study was to trace a through-line between media representation and women’s likelihood to pursue careers in STEM—framed by sociocultural theory and the concept of STEM identity development. Through an interview and a document reflection, two participants—unconnected to each other and known only peripherally or not at all to me—revealed overlapping themes in their narratives.
Both participants had at least one parent in a STEM profession, providing early exposure and shaping their science capital. However, it was not solely this proximity that made STEM feel possible; both recalled moments in childhood when they saw women in STEM roles through media—and that representation felt aspirational, empowering, and formative.
Key themes that emerged across both stories included:
Family influence (especially fathers in engineering and mothers in science education)
Mentorship (both receiving it and becoming it)
Media visibility (with The X-Files acting as a catalyst for Jyoti, and Animal Planet for Dee)
This study supports the idea that STEM identity is not built in isolation. Rather, it is an accumulation of signals—familial, social, and mediated—that help girls see themselves as capable contributors to scientific spaces.
Future research could expand the scope of this inquiry to include a broader pool of participants and test a critical question: If a young woman lacks access to real-life STEM role models or mentors, can media alone be enough to help her envision a future in STEM?
Cultivation Theory (Gerbner & Gross) may be useful in deepening this exploration. The theory posits that long-term media exposure shapes people’s perceptions of social reality. If applied here, it could help researchers and media creators better understand how frequent, positive depictions of women in STEM might shift beliefs and aspirations for the next generation.
Ultimately, this study advocates for more inclusive media portrayals—especially in early childhood and adolescence—and increased investment in programs that pair those portrayals with mentorship opportunities.
Reflection and Lessons Learned
Conducting this study offered invaluable insight—both as a researcher and as someone personally connected to the topic. Early on, I realized that my assumptions about women in STEM were shaped by a Western lens. Meeting Jyoti underscored the importance of cultural context and how dramatically it can shape opportunity, perception, and access. This realization will inform how I frame future research questions and select participants going forward.
Additionally, coding proved to be one of the most critical steps in the narrative analysis process. It was through careful coding and peer collaboration that I was able to identify recurring themes across participants—despite differences in background, geography, and data collection method. These threads ultimately made it possible to construct a cohesive, compelling narrative that stayed true to each woman’s lived experience.
This project affirmed the power of story—not just as a tool for research, but as a means of honoring identity, surfacing truth, and shaping pathways. I hope this study contributes to a growing body of work committed to making STEM more visible, inclusive, and welcoming for all.
References
Abbott, J. (n.d.). Representation in media matters. WGBH Foundation. https://www.wgbh.org/foundation/representation-in-media-matters
Bem, S. L. (1981). Gender schema theory: A cognitive account of sex typing. Psychological Review, 88(4), 354–364. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.88.4.354
Ceci, S. J., & Williams, W. M. (2007). Why aren't more women in science?: Top researchers debate the evidence. American Psychological Association.
Choney, S. (2018, May 2). Why do girls lose interest in STEM? New research has some answers—and what we can do about it. Microsoft Stories. https://news.microsoft.com/features/why-do-girls-lose-interest-in-stem-new-research-has-some-answers-and-what-we-can-do-about-it/
Connelly, F. M., & Clandinin, D. J. (1990). Stories of experience and narrative inquiry. Educational Researcher, 19(5), 2–14.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Geena Davis Institute. (2021, March 30). The Scully Effect: I want to believe in STEM. See Jane. https://seejane.org/research-informs-empowers/the-scully-effect-i-want-to-believe-in-ste
Gottfredson, L. S. (1981). Circumscription and compromise: A developmental theory of occupational aspirations. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 28(6), 545–579. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.28.6.545
Hill, C., Corbett, C., & Rose, S. A. (2010). Why so few? Women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. American Association of University Women (AAUW). Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse.
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Lim, N. (2016, November 4). Why media matters: Depictions of women in STEM. Westcoast Women in Engineering, Science and Technology – Simon Fraser University. http://www.sfu.ca/wwest/WWEST_blog/why-media-matters--depictions-of-women-in-STEM.html
Makarova, E., Aeschlimann, B., & Herzog, W. (2019). The gender gap in STEM fields: The impact of the gender stereotype of math and science on secondary students' career aspirations. Frontiers in Education, 4, 60. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2019.00060
National Archives and Records Administration. (n.d.). Women in STEM. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/eop/ostp/women
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Sax, L. J. (2012). Examining the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields: Early findings from the field of computer science. UCLA: Center for the Study of Women. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/84j9s1v1
Seidman, I. (2006). Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide for researchers in education and the social sciences (3rd ed.). Teachers College Press.
Silverman, S., & Pritchard, A. (1997). Building their future: Girls and technology education in Connecticut. Journal of Technology Education, 7(2). https://doi.org/10.21061/jte.v7i2.a.4
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Appendix A: Contact Form
Appendix B: Interview Protocol
Appendix C: Guided Journal Reflection
Appendix D: Document Analysis
Field note title: Descriptive: A Journal Reflection: Dedra Townsend, Mechanical Engineer | April 2022 Interpretive: The Rhetoric of Representation: A Journal Reflection of a Mechanical Engineer’s Journey into STEM. | The title is very important as an initial analytical tool. Note the difference between a simple descriptive title and an interpretive title. If I can, I like to use emic expressions from the data to capture its main themes or meanings. In this case I reference theoretical literature as well as popular culture |
Pre-document analysis memo (brain dump): I know Dee from social media- so I don’t really “know” her. We have a lot of mutual followers though and participated in a group chat for an online challenge. Because of this, I know that Dee works in STEM- though I had never had conversations with her about her job. Still, we frequent the same anime circles online and thought it would be cool to capture her reflections as a Black woman in STEM. | This pre-memo lays your biases, assumptions, and expectations on the table. How did you feel going into the interview? What did you expect to learn? Any significant background info. to keep in mind (like my prior experience with running and races). |
Field notes (“field notes” applies to any data you collect, including interview transcripts, photos, observational data, audio data, online data, and so on). | This column is for coding |
Field Notes | Note: with old-school, cut-and-paste coding, it was important to know where you got quotes from your data. So it was common to number each line. There are other ways of doing it now, but it’s still important to have some way of knowing where quotes and references come from in your data. |
I provided Dee with a Journal Reflection Guide that included prompt/questions for her to reflect upon. She was free to physically handwrite her responses and scan the pictures or type them up. Alternatively, she was free to utilize the reflection guide as-is. For the purpose of this course, the original document is hyperlinked here, though it has been copied and pasted below for the purpose of this analysis. Provided Guided Questions:
*** What is your current role? Hello! My name is Dedra Townsend and I’m a mechanical engineer working as a design engineer for the U.S. Navy. I design ammunition for our gun systems to support our warfighters at sea. [OC: I did not know this about Dee. This is a pretty cool-sounding job. It is also cute that she starts with “Hello!” because this is a “journal reflection” though I guess to be technical, she would not need to write this sort of thing in a journal entry. It is helpful for me to have this information captured though.] Do you know other women that do a job similar to yours? Yes, I know women who do similar jobs as I do in support of the Navy. For example, my mentor is a woman who is a lead computer scientist. My co-worker is a woman who is leading a project that will one day be used by our sailors. I have other mentors who are women that are in jobs that I want to be in the future. Women in the STEM field are already low, but in the engineering field it’s even more scarce. I'm lucky to be in a generation where I see more women trying to dominate a male-dominated field. [OC: I am working with this document after my interview and I am seeing this recurring theme of mentors. This is great!] What was your college experience like? Consider how your identity played a role. My college experience was going to a predominantly white institution (PWI). I was one of some women mechanical engineers, one of the few black mechanical engineers, and the only black woman mechanical engineer in my class. There were other black women I knew in other engineering fields. Other black women I knew were mainly computer scientists or in information technology. My school was a medium-sized school so you weren’t just a number to the professors. Though, my professors knew who I was because I was mainly the only black woman in my class. There are pros and cons to this, of course. One pro where you’re already known by name, one con is you’re already known. I’m not saying my professors have done this, but there was already pressure in trying to be the best engineer I could be to keep up and be beyond everyone else. After all, being a woman in a male-dominated field was already stressful enough. However, my experience was positive. A lot of my fellow male classmates saw me as their equal and valued my thoughts and opinions. It also helped that a few of my professors were women with doctorate degrees, so I got to see first-hand that this career field is achievable. [OC: Though I am coding this as EASS, this recurring theme of mentors, or rather “role models” exists here.] Think about your childhood. What mindsets did you have surrounding STEM, specifically women in STEM? During my childhood, I wanted to be a veterinarian. I didn’t realize that being a vet was part of being in STEM at the time since I would go to school and major in biology. I just liked the idea of working in a zoo and raising wildlife in my home just like those shows on the Animal Planet Channel. My mindset surrounding women in STEM was “I could do that” and “they are super talented.” This is because growing up, my father was an electrical engineer, and he introduced me to his colleagues who are still my mentors today. Out of the number of his colleagues, he made sure that I was introduced to the women in various STEM professions so I could see that someone that looked like me can achieve this too. [OC: Similar to my last note, though I am coding this as early childhood, mentors/role models played a major role in Dee’s upbringing. This was a clear theme in my interview with my other participant as well.] Think about your media intake growing up. What messages did you receive surrounding women in STEM? To be frank, my media in-take were mainly Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and etc. Off of the top of my head, the closest to seeing women in STEM represented was The Magic School Bus with Ms. Frizzle teaching science. Bindi Irwin, the late and great Steve Irwin’s daughter, taught about wildlife. [OC: This is something worth highlighting, as the underrepresentation in STEM in media is a huge portion of this research topic. I remember reading that under the Obama administration, there were actual research studies conducted and the results showed that even when a woman in STEM is on screen, she gets significantly less screen time than her male counterparts despite potentially being well written, dynamic, or a fan fave.] Think about present-day media. What are your thoughts about how women in STEM are represented? I think the representation of women in STEM in present-day media is a lot stronger compared to decades ago. Some strong female leads in STEM include:
These are the few that many think of off the top of their head. Though, I think there could be more shows like Bill Nye the Science Guy or The Magic School Bus who makes learning fun. Do you think that the media could positively impact women’s mindsets around STEM? In the age of technology, the media can definitely impact women’s mindsets behind STEM in a positive way. Just like we mainly see women in reality tv shows like Real Housewives, we can see other women doing STEM related projects in the media. A good example is a youtuber named Simone Giertz. She sees a problem and tries to build a solution for it, even if it's the most mundane thing. She went viral after converting her Tesla into her own customized truck called the “Truckla.”(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R35gWBtLCYg). Elon Musk wasn’t happy about it, but it pushed him to make his own Tesla Truck (personally I think Simone Giertz’s Truckla is better). In college, I was part of a couple non-profit organizations called National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and Society of Women Engineers (SWE) where you could be in any STEM related field or any race and gender. We had programs called NSBE Jr. and SWE Next where we reached out to kids in K-12 and did mini projects with them to expose them to the STEM world. Here are their websites for their youth programs.
| Observer/Interviewer Comments in pink. [OC] Guided Questions in BOLD blue. -THEME- Childhood -SUBTHEME- Influence -ASSOCIATED KEYWORDS- Parents; Father; Mother; Television; Journals/Magazines;XFiles -ABBREVIATION- CHINF -THEME- Early Adulthood -SUBTHEME- Secondary Schooling -ASSOCIATED KEYWORDS- College; Graduate School -ABBREVIATION- EASS -THEME- Adulthood -SUBTHEME- Career -ASSOCIATED KEYWORDS- Mentor -ABBREVIATION- AHCAR |
Analytic memo | This is really important (and a required element of your field notes in this class). It’s where you try to make sense of the whole data collection “event,” even including emic documents (like, for example, the Disc Golf Club constitution, which you’ll see later) |
Similar to my interview, reading through Dee’s reflections was really fulfilling in a lot of ways. What is most interesting is the parallels between what Dee shared in this reflection and what Jyoti shared during her interview. As I previously stated, there is clearly an interconnectedness between media, role models, and mentors. There is also an underlying foundation in cultural/science capital. If a young woman does not have the cultural/science capital at home, is the media, role models, or mentors enough to get her to opt-into STEM? That is a question I will need to confront at some point in my research career. Like my interview participant, Dee talks about having a parent in STEM. I have two thoughts here- one of which feels unethical but I want to be transparent in my thought process:
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