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'Closing The Gender Gap' At Any Cost Threatens The Academic Integrity of STEM Education
[The Mises Institute] The National Bureau of Economic Research recently published a study which concluded that the grading policies for STEM classes contribute to the gender gap in the STEM field.The study finds that STEM classes, on average, assign lower grades compared to non-STEM classes and that this tends to deter women enrolling. Women ‐ who value higher grades more than men ‐ are apparently put off by the lower average grades in STEM subjects. This is despite the fact that "women have higher grades in both STEM and non-STEM classes," according to the study. The study also shows that women are more likely to switch out of STEM than men. To increase female participation, the authors propose curving all courses to around a B. They estimate that this would increase female enrollment by 11.3 percent. This may seem like a noble endeavor, but it is based on a faulty premise, and it will have adverse effects. The authors aim to solve the problem of the gender gap in STEM, but they never explain why this should be a goal. Individuals have distinct abilities, and efforts to "equalize" their abilities and interests based on gender goes against this. That men have lower attrition rates in STEM should not necessarily be seen as an advantage. For example, another study by Karen Clark, a doctoral candidate at Liberty University, shows that women are, on average, more persistent than men in staying in college. This may be, in part, because they are more likely to avoid high-attrition courses of study like STEM. Posted by: Besoeker 2020-01-08 |
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