Feminization in STEM Fields in Higher Education in Pakistan: A Case of Female Acceptability and Resistance

Abstract

This study attempts to evaluate the female acceptability in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields in higher education in Pakistan. It has been found that females have been less likely to participate in STEM education in the past as compared to males. The situation has been changing gradually, and females have been found entering STEM in developed and developing countries. A quantitative study has been conducted using a cross-sectional survey as a technique of data collection. A sample size of 417 female students has been sampled from the sciences discipline through the proportionate random sampling technique, and 409 female students have participated. A structured questionnaire has been used as a level of measurement, and pre-testing has been done on 25 randomly selected female students to check the reliability, i.e., .714 and above. An attitudinal scale has been developed to measure the response of female students. The tables have been used to show the trend of the data. Statistical techniques include univariate analysis, normality test, Kendall’s tau_b, and the Chi-Square test. The study findings point out that gender expression, gender sensitivity, supportiveness, and cooperativeness are correlated and associated with female acceptability in STEM higher education. However, the results also assert that personal acceptability, parental acceptability, and peer-based acceptability have an association and correlation with female acceptability in STEM. The study findings also reveal that careerist femininity, job orientation, and family-oriented femininity have a positive correlation and an association with female acceptability in STEM higher education.