ArticleHeliyon2023
Factors associated with the gender gap in the STEM sector: Comparison of theoretical and empirical concept maps and qualitative SWOT analysis.
Article in Heliyon, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Exploring Smart Furniture: A Systematic Review of Integrated Technologies, Functionalities, and Applications.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Pooled it
- Factors Associated With STEAM Career Interest Among Female Students in Bangladesh: A Cross-Sectional Study.Health science reports · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) degrees represent a future employment scenario with low unemployment rates due to the high demand for qualified personnel. However, the STEM sector also represents an educational field marked by horizontal segregation and the gender gap. Different factors play a role in deciding which higher education studies to pursue. From a theoretical and empirical approach, this study aims to identify which factors are associated with the gender gap in the STEM higher education sector. Furthermore, as a research question, it is proposed: are the factors identified at a theoretical and empirical level associated with the gender gap in the STEM higher education sector the same? The empirically validated questionnaire "Questionnaire with university students on STEM studies in Higher Education" (QSTEMHE) was applied to the student community of public and private universities in Spain in 2021, using simple random probability sampling to answer the research question and objective. A final sample of 2101 participants of different genders belonging to different branches of knowledge was obtained. The data analysis was carried out using qualitative methodology and the phenomenological method, following different stages. Firstly, a theoretical conceptual map of the main factors identified in the literature and their authors was composed. Secondly, an empirical conceptual map has been designed with the factors identified in the narratives of the study participants. Finally, these maps were complemented with a SWOT analysis based on the participants' discourses. As a result, it has been observed that there are extrinsic and intrinsic factors and that social constructs and gender stereotypes strongly influence the perception of men, women, and professions and the masculinisation and feminisation of these. Outreach interventions should be proposed from the institutional educational spheres to alleviate existing biases about studies and professions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.