Relationships between STEM self-efficacy, same-sex role models and academic behaviour

Although women make up approximately half of undergraduate enrolments in postsecondary educational institutions, women continue to be significantly underrepresented in many areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). In this study, survey responses from 249 undergraduate students enrolled in at least one STEM course were analyzed to further investigate possible relationships among sex, academic course choices, same-sex role models and STEM self-efficacy. Results show that female students were less likely than male students to declare a STEM major. Among female students there was a correlation between the number of same-sex instructors and being a STEM major as well as the number of STEM courses taken, and further investigation revealed that self-efficacy was a significant predictor of female undergraduate’s major. Implications, future directions and study limitations are discussed.