Programme by Session

The female:male ratio on the integrated Physics Masters (MPhys) programme at the University of St Andrews is significantly lower than on our bachelors (BSc) programme. A higher fraction of women are leaving Physics early on, representing the start of the ‘leaky pipeline’, where more women than men drop out of STEM subjects while progressing up the career ladder (Ivie, 2013; UK science select committee, 2014). The MPhys:BSc gender discrepancy is thought to be a country-wide problem, however, the cause(s) remain unknown. Constructs such as self-efficacy and sense of belonging have been identified as strong predictors of career intentions and persistence in physics (e.g. Hazari, 2010) and STEM more generally (e.g. Lewis, 2017). However, more work is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms by which these constructs, alongside institutional culture and practice, might impact participation, achievement and persistence in physics. During Summer 2017 we designed a survey using validated standardized items from the literature to test four psychological constructs that may play a role in why female physics students leave the course early. Survey constructs were chosen based on known or hypothesized variation with gender, their likelihood to affect academic performance and career intention and documented interventions allowing improvements. During September 2017 and April 2018 we collected survey responses from around 400 undergraduates (~35% of students are female), in all years 1-5 of the physics course. Responses were linked to grade and gender information. I will present the preliminary results from this ongoing study.