{"id":14733,"date":"2014-08-13T16:07:08","date_gmt":"2014-08-13T16:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discovery-graduates.com\/?p=1074"},"modified":"2014-08-13T16:07:08","modified_gmt":"2014-08-13T16:07:08","slug":"social-support-systems-key-for-women-in-stem-reveals-us-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/discovery-adr.com\/us\/social-support-systems-key-for-women-in-stem-reveals-us-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Social support systems key for women in STEM, reveals US study"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"mentorwordle\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The bid to address the gender imbalance in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) sector has made many a headline in recent years, with the government, industry bodies, leading firms and more all taking steps to nurture the female STEM talent pipeline.<\/p>\n

Now a new study from the US could shed light on what exactly is needed to help take this bid from concept to reality. Mary Jean Amon, a doctoral student in the University of Cincinnati\u2019s psychology program, carried out a study focusing on 46 female graduate students working towards STEM careers, and reached some interesting conclusions.<\/p>\n

All members of the study group participated in STEM leadership workshops at a research university.<\/p>\n

Among other findings, the study revealed that social supports systems \u2013 including encouragement and mentoring from research advisors as well as family and friends – played a vital role in helping would-be female STEM professionals in overcoming barriers in these traditionally male-dominated sectors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was surprised at the major role that social supports took in helping women persevere in these fields,\u201d says Amon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were very sensitive to their mentor\u2019s feedback. I think that\u2019s true for the general population in research fields.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, when these women reported having lower confidence and higher perfectionism and their mentors were offering negative feedback or just weren\u2019t around, these women felt like they took a major hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the other hand, even in the face of failure, if their mentor told them it was all OK, that would really smooth over their personal turmoil about pursuing their career,\u201d continued Amon.<\/p>\n

Series of recommendations to further support women in STEM professions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Presenting her findings at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association in Washington, D.C, Amon made a number of recommendations to further support women in STEM professions. This included the following:<\/p>\n