Kazakhstan prioritizes economic growth and competitiveness through education reforms emphasizing STEM fields. Despite efforts to attract students to STEM, women remain underrepresented. Drawing on human capital and self-determination theory and in-depth interviews with female students majoring in STEM fields, this study examines the motivations of…

This research study was conducted to determine what motivational factors influenced female and minority students to pursue a career in healthcare. Using Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, this quantitative study suggested that there are three distinct motivational factors influencing female and minority students to pursue a healthcare as their…

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of Afghan women refugees in community colleges. Using Yosso's (2005) community cultural wealth theory, the study explored Afghan women's motivation for attending college, the experiences that brought them to the college, the challenges they experienced while navigating the institution,…

Finland is known worldwide for their strong K-12 education system and robust gender equality across their nation. However, these facts have not translated into strong representation of women in physics degree attainment and the workforce. This study seeks to understand the motivations and consideration to leave of university physics students in…

In chemistry, women are still underrepresented in the postbaccalaureate stages. However, there has been limited discussion in STEM education that treats chemistry as a singular discipline and explores doctoral students' experiences from a mentoring perspective. This qualitative research study investigated how contextual factors (i.e., social…

This study identifies women college engineering students' perception of online Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning and factors that influence their learning motivation during the COVID-19 period. By conducting interviews with ten women engineering students and applying attention, relevance, confidence, and…

This dissertation examined the motivation and source of support for first-generation Latina community college students who aspire to transfer to a four-year institution. The study is informed by Yosso's Community Cultural Wealth model, to explore how participants navigate their school environment and the vertical transfer process through an…

It is widely agreed that attitudes about mathematics play an important role in students' performance, choice, and persistence in STEM. Motivational theories posit this link and suggest that differences in these attitudes should explain in part why female, Black, Hispanic, low-income, and first-generation students are underrepresented in STEM…

This qualitative study examined the college choice process of high-achieving, secondary African American female students enrolled at a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-focused Academy aspiring to study STEM at a 4-year college or university. Minority women, unlike White women and racial minority men, face a double bind as…

Underrepresentation of female students and specific racial/ethnic groups persists in STEM despite decades of intervention. Evidence suggests a need to encourage interest in STEM fields at the middle-school level. Adolescent career aspirations are influenced by exposure to role models and mindsets, such as a sense of perceived personal capacity.…

Many students who begin postsecondary education at community colleges indicate holding aspirations of transferring and obtaining a bachelor's degree or higher, but less than a third of these students transition to a four-year university within six years (Schudde et al., 2018). Guided by my assumption that reading-readiness is a requirement for…

Against a United Kingdom policy background of attempts to widen higher education participation in a socially inclusive direction, this article analyses theory, policy and practice to understand why past efforts have had limited success and to propose an alternative: an "anchor institution" model. A university and a private training…

Programs in bioinformatics, offered in many academic institutes, are assumed to expand women's representation in computer science (CS). Women's enrolment in these programs is high. Our questions are: Do these programs attract different women from those attracted to CS programs? What factors underlie women's decision to enroll in bioinformatics…

This article discusses the reasons offered by one group of paraprofessionals to explain their decision to study for a work-related higher education programme. It reports on an ethnographically inspired piece of research that aimed to capture the initial motives that a group of teaching assistants had for studying for a Foundation degree at a…

Every year, a growing number of women break out on their own as entrepreneurs. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, female total entrepreneurial activity has increased by 10 percent in the last two years, and the gender gap in entrepreneurial participation has narrowed by 5 percent. For many of these women, a graduate business degree…