van Veelen Ruth, Derks Belle, Endedijk Maaike Dorine
Social, Health and Organizational Psychology Department, Faculty of Social Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.
Educational Sciences Department, Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences, University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands.
Front Psychol. 2019 Feb 19;10:150. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00150. eCollection 2019.
Masculine work contexts form an important source of social identity threat for working women. But what aspect of masculine work contexts is most threatening to women's gender identity at work: A numerical majority of male colleagues (i.e., numerical male dominance), working in a profession in which women are negatively stereotyped (i.e., normative male dominance), or the combination? The current study aimed to disentangle these two aspects of masculine work contexts by testing its combined impact on the experience of gender identity threat among women and men who work in the STEM sector (i.e., Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). A field study was conducted among women ( = 177) and men ( = 630) graduates holding an academic degree in a STEM educational program. Respondents either worked in- or outside the STEM sector (i.e., stronger vs. weaker gender stereotype) and estimated the ratio of men to women in their direct work environment. Results from a Structural Equation Model demonstrated that women in STEM face double trouble: The combination of working almost solely with male colleagues (being outnumbered) and working in the technical sector (where women are negatively stereotyped) predicted the highest levels of experienced gender identity threat, particularly among women who highly identified with their gender group. Gender identity threat, in turn, negatively predicted women's work engagement and career confidence. Men did not face double trouble: Their experience of gender identity threat was not related to working in a masculine STEM sector. Importantly, considering that the women in this sample already hold a degree in STEM, and have proven their competence in STEM and resilience to gender stereotypes, this research reveals how in naturalistic work settings, prevailing social identity threats continue to affect women's professional careers.
男性化的工作环境对职业女性来说是社会身份威胁的一个重要来源。但是，男性化工作环境的哪个方面对职业女性的性别认同最具威胁：男性同事在数量上占多数（即数量上的男性主导）、从事女性受到负面刻板印象的职业（即规范性的男性主导），还是两者的结合？本研究旨在通过测试其对从事STEM领域（即科学、技术、工程和数学）工作的女性和男性的性别认同威胁体验的综合影响，来厘清男性化工作环境的这两个方面。对在STEM教育项目中获得学术学位的女性（=177人）和男性（=630人）毕业生进行了一项实地研究。受访者要么在STEM领域内工作，要么在该领域外工作（即性别刻板印象较强与较弱），并估计其直接工作环境中男女的比例。结构方程模型的结果表明，STEM领域的女性面临双重困境：几乎完全与男性同事共事（人数上占劣势）以及在技术领域工作（女性在该领域受到负面刻板印象）这两者的结合预示着最高水平的性别认同威胁体验，尤其是在那些高度认同自己性别的女性中。反过来，性别认同威胁对女性的工作投入和职业信心产生了负面预测作用。男性没有面临双重困境：他们的性别认同威胁体验与在男性化的STEM领域工作无关。重要的是，鉴于本样本中的女性已经拥有STEM学位，并且已经证明了她们在STEM领域的能力以及对性别刻板印象的适应力，这项研究揭示了在自然主义的工作环境中，普遍存在的社会身份威胁如何继续影响女性的职业生涯。
