SPRING WISRD MAGAZINE, VOL 6, ISSUE 2

man in STEM fields to explain the disproport ionate loss of women in STEM over t ime. They found that the women perceive a less posit ive and support ive climate, greater workplace demands, and fewer accommodat ions. This suggests that STEM employment is less conducive to family building than other professions. Along with gender expectat ions that differ from those of their male counterparts, these limitat ions often push women out for part icular ly notable in S&E jobs. Men are typically assessed by employers as being more capable, worthy of career mentor ing, and deserving of higher salar ies than women with object ively ident ical performance. Addit ionally, men are more likely to be promoted quickly and enter higher supervisory roles than similar women. So, not only are women?s expectat ions likely to be lower than men?s, many STEM workplaces are designed to st imulate men?s product ivity but not women?s. This is especially true for women with family responsibilit ies. These dispar it ies have contr ibuted to the lack of diversity in the workplace, and these systems have been histor ically maintained; minor it ies are st ill alienated and their voices cont inue to be suppressed. Unfortunately, most intervent ion efforts implemented to increase persistence in STEM among students from underrepresented groups are rooted in a deficit model lack of support and flexibility. Percept ion of gender ability is

and only aim to ?fix?students, offer ing tutor ing sessions, teaching them self-confidence, or socializing them into S&E (Ong et al., 2017). Unt il we address these dispar it ies at a classroom, departmental, and inst itut ional level, examining social and cultural reform at these levels, it won?t be enough. We need to ensure minor it ies are supported and set up to succeed. Counterpaces offer a method for providing the support to succeed. A study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison indicated that inst itut ions and departments may enhance persistence by offer ing opportunit ies for formal and informal counterspaces. They found that underrepresented students?persistence in STEM could improve if students had key academic exper iences, such as strong peer support . In this study, counterspaces are defined as academic and social safe spaces that allow underrepresented students to: promote their own learning wherein their exper iences are validated and viewed as cr it ical knowledge; vent frustrat ions discr iminat ion; and challenge deficit not ions of people of color (and other marginalized groups) and establish and maintain a posit ive collegiate racial climate for themselves (Char leston et al., 2014). Counterspaces may contain more heterogeneity, such as women from mult iple racial or ethnic groups, by shar ing stor ies of isolat ion, microaggressions, and/or overt

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