Perceived employability and career readiness among STEM students: does gender matter?

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic profile (n = 12,708) of participants from Phase One.

Field of study and code	Male	Female	All
Natural and Physical Sciences (code 1)	169	263	432
Information Technology (code 2)	1367	303	1670
Engineering and Related Technologies (code 3)	320	71	391
Architecture and Building (code 4)	364	219	583
Agriculture, Environmental and Related Studies (code 5)	30	28	58
Health (code 6)	705	2157	2862
STEM (1 + 2 + 3 + 6)	2,561	2,794	5355
Education (code 7)	164	734	898
Management and Commerce (code 8)	1686	1966	3652
Society and Culture (code 9)	436	905	1341
Creative Arts (code 10)	299	478	777
Food, Hospitality and Personal Services (code 11)	3	13	16
Mixed Fields (code 12)	8	20	28
Non-STEM (4 + 5 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12)	2,990	4,363	7353
All	5551	7157	12,708

Table 2. Demographic profile of participants in phase two (n = 4).

#	Gender	Field of study	Year of Study
STEM – 1	Male	Electrical engineering (code 3)	Year 4
STEM – 2	Male	Physics (code 1)	Year 3
Non-STEM 1	Female	Economics (code 8)	Year 3
Non-STEM 2	Female	Economics & Finance (code 8)	Year 3

Table 3. Means, correlations and reliabilities.

	Mean (s.d.)	1	2	3	4	5	6
1. Identification with career commitment	3.872 (0.781)	0.837
2. Reconsideration of career commitment	2.602 (1.029)	−0.167 **	0.829
3. Understanding the relevance of learning	4.678 (0.794)	0.412 **	−0.120 **	0.883
4. Perceived programme relevance	4.100 (0.559)	0.409 **	.199 **	0.527 **	0.805
5. Career exploration and awareness	7.897 (1.422)	0.453 **	−0.200 **	0.584 **	0.521 **	0.943
6. Occupational mobility	7.379 (1.628)	0.294 **	−0.048 **	0.498 **	0.399 **	0.677 **	0.870

Notes: 1. Bold values on the diagonal are Cronbach alphas; 2. **p < 0.01.

Table 4. Gender mean score differences in the confidence levels in STEM (n = 5355).

Constructs	Female (n = 2794) Mean (s.d.)	Male (n = 2561) Mean (s.d.)	Mean difference	p value
1. Career Identity and commitment	3.987 (.738)	3.897 (.781)	.089***	0.000
2. Reconsideration of career commitment	2.485 (1.061)	2.653 (1.050)	-.167	0.000
3. Willingness and ability to learn	4.755 (.771)	4.729 (.820)	.026	0.222
4. Relevance of learning	4.219 (.514)	4.119 (.564)	.099***	0.000
5. Career exploration & awareness	8.019 (1.37)	7.992 (1.412)	.0269	0.479
6. Occupational mobility	7.341 (1.628)	7.568 (1.649)	-.227	0.000

Notes: The mean difference is (female mean score – male mean score). +ve value means female score > male score which indicates, on average, females are more confident in that literacy skill. P< =  0.1 = 10% los, p< =  0.05 = 5% los. P< =  0.01 = 1% los and ***,** and * indicate the estimated coefficient is significantly different from zero at the 1,5 and 10 percent levels, respectively.

Table 5. Gendered mean differences in confidence among non-STEM students (n = 7353).

Constructs	Female (n = 4363) Mean (s.d.)	Male (n = 2990) Mean (s.d.)	Mean difference	p value
1. Career Identity and commitment	3.845 (.786)	3.784 (.800)	.061***	0.001
2. Reconsideration of career commitment	2.558 (1.023)	2.733 (.971)	-.174	0.000
3. Willingness and ability to learn	4.647 (.795)	4.606 (.780)	.040**	0.031
4. Relevance of learning	4.065 (.560)	4.024 (.573)	.040***	0.002
5. Career exploration & awareness	7.844 (1.447)	7.777 (1.424)	.066**	0.049
6. Occupational mobility	7.281 (1.658)	7.396 (1.552)	-.115	0.002

Notes: The mean difference is (female mean score – male mean score). +ve value means female score > male score which indicates, on average, females are more confident in that literacy skill. P< =  0.1 = 10% los, p< =  0.05 = 5% los. P< =  0.01 = 1% los and ***,** and * indicate the estimated coefficient is significantly different from zero at the 1,5 and 10 percent levels, respectively.

Table 6. Mean score differences in confidence levels of women in STEM vs. women in Non-STEM (n = 7157).

Constructs	Female (n = 2,794) Mean (s.d.)	Female (n = 4,363) Mean (s.d.)	Mean difference	p value
	STEM	Non-STEM
1. Career Identity and commitment	3.987 (.738)	3.845 (.786)	.141***	0.000
2. Reconsideration of career commitment	2.485 (1.061)	2.558 (.1.023)	-.073	0.003
3. Willingness and ability to learn	4.755 (.771)	4.647 (.795)	.108***	0.000
4. Relevance of learning	4.219 (.514)	4.065 (.560)	.153***	0.000
5. Career exploration & awareness	8.019 (1.372)	7.844 (1.447)	.174***	0.000
6. Occupational mobility	7.341 (1.628)	7.281 (1.658)	.059	0.134

Notes: The mean difference is (women in STEM – women in nonSTEM). +ve value means female score in STEM > female score in nonSTEM which indicates, on average, STEM females are more confident than nonSTEM females. p< =  0.1 = 10% los, p< = .05 = 5% los. p< = .01 = 1% los and ***, ** and * indicate the estimated coefficient is significantly different from zero at the 1,5 and 10 percent levels, respectively.

Table 7. Area of study: Gender wise mean score differences in confidence levels (n = 5355).

Constructs	Gender Mean Difference – STEM
	Natural & Physical Sciences	Information Technology	Engineering & Related Technology	Health
1. Career Identity and commitment	.119 (p = 0.128)	.067 (p = 0.182)	.090 (p = 0.343)	.052 (p = 0.100)
2. Reconsideration of career commitment	-.126 (p = 0.198)	.126 (p = 0.060)	.166 (p = 0.215)	-.211*** (p = 0.000)
3. Willingness and ability to learn	.186** (p = 0.031)	.107** (p = 0.042)	.155 (p = 0.123)	.004 (p = 0.881)
4. Relevance of learning	.183*** (p = 0.001)	-.032 (p = 0.383)	.114 (p = 0.114)	.032 (p = 0.128)
5. Career exploration & awareness	.299 (p = 0.063)	.157 (p = 0.074)	.181 (p = 0.334)	-.056 (p = 0.335)
6. Occupational mobility	.110 (p = 0.544)	.112 (p = 0.282)	.045 (p = 0.825)	-.259*** (p = .000)

Notes: The mean difference is (female mean score – male mean score). +ve value means female score > male score which indicates, on average, females are more confident in that literacy skill. p< = .1 = 10% los, p< =  0.05 = 5% los. P< =  0.01 = 1% los and ***,** and * indicate the estimated coefficient is significantly different from zero at the 1,5 and 10 percent levels, respectively.

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