11th Annual IGSS Conference • September 24, 2020

Integrating Genetics and the Social Sciences 2020

Women, Genes, and STEM: The Effects of Biology and Gendered Environments on High School Course-Taking

Meng-Jung Lin, Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Why so few women in science? has been a haunting question for social scientists in the age when gender equality has dramatically improved in other sections of society. Although the influences of biology and gendered environments on the decisions of entering or leaving STEM were proposed and examined in the past studies, seldom did researchers consider the interaction between the two factors. To fill the gap, this study uses two genetic measures, the education polygenic score and the highest-level math course polygenic score, and social factors to predict high school course taking. Using a sample of 3,067 cases from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, I found that: 1. Girls were more likely to take English and Social Studies Honors, but were less likely to take Physics; 2. Girls and boys with a standard deviation higher math polygenic score were 57% more likely to take Physics and 123% more likely to take Calculus; 3. Girls were 36% less likely than boys to choose Physics when the education polygenic score was a standard deviation higher. However, the effect of the math polygenic score was slightly stronger for girls than for boys; 4. Girls with better math genetic abilities were more likely to take Physics than their boy counterparts in poor schools. The results show the structural influences of gender on the realization of genetic potentials for both girls and boys.

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