Exploring the Gender Gap in Mathematics in the Brazilian ENEM as an Indicator of Potential Female Candidates for Computing Careers

• Tiago F. Tavares Insper
• Fábio R. Miranda Insper

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/wei.2024.3003

Abstract

In the fields of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), there is typically a significant difference between the sizes of the male and female populations, known as the gender gap. This phenomenon is observed worldwide and is related to cultural aspects that can be measured from high school onwards. In this article, we estimate the gender gap by analyzing the math grades from the ENEM exam. Data analysis shows that there are cities where the gender gap is consistently small, indicating potential sources of further inspiration for actions to reduce this phenomenon.

References

Aires, J., Mattos, G., Oliveira, C., Brito, A., Aragão, A. F., Alves, S., Coelho, T., and Moreira, G. (2018). Barreiras que Impedem a Opção das Meninas pelas Ciências Exatas e Computação: Percepção de Alunas do Ensino Médio. In Anais do Women in Information Technology (WIT). SBC. ISSN: 2763-8626.

Alvarenga, C. and Braga, C. (2024). Assessing the effects of gender stereotype in stem in a brazilian university. EconomiA.

Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological review., 84(2):191–215.

Blotnicky, K. A., Franz-Odendaal, T., French, F., and Joy, P. (2018). A study of the correlation between STEM career knowledge, mathematics self-efficacy, career interests, and career activities on the likelihood of pursuing a STEM career among middle school students. International Journal of STEM Education, 5(1):22.

Card, D. and Payne, A. A. (2020). High school choices and the gender gap in ¡scp¿stem¡/scp¿. Economic Inquiry, 59(1):9–28.

Cimpian, J. R., Kim, T. H., and McDermott, Z. T. (2020). Understanding persistent gender gaps in stem. Science, 368(6497):1317–1319.

Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. Routledge, New York, 2 edition.

da Justa Lemos, M. (2019). The effect of gender on college major choice: evidence from brazil. Master’s thesis, Fundação Getulio Vargas, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

D’Agostino Sr., R. B. (2005). Principal Components Analysis. In Encyclopedia of Biostatistics. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. eprint: [link].

Holanda, M., M. Júnior, A. L., Silva, E. H. M. d., Laterza, J., Araujo, A., Castanho, C., Koike, C., and Oliveira, R. B. (2022). Uma análise comparativa do desempenho em matemática entre gêneros nas provas do enem. In Anais do XVI Women in Information Technology (WIT 2022), WIT 2022. Sociedade Brasileira de Computação - SBC.

Kanny, M. A., Sax, L. J., and Riggers-Piehl, T. A. (2014). Investigating forty years of stem research: How explanations for the gender gap have evolved over time. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 20(2):127–148.

Lima, W. G. d., Maciel, C., Casagrande, A. L., Sassi, S. B., and Nunes, M. F. A. F. (2022). STEAM, Gênero e Ensino Médio: ações da extensão em parceria com o Meninas Digitais Mato Grosso. In Anais do Women in Information Technology (WIT), pages 251–256. SBC. ISSN: 2763-8626.

Makarova, E., Aeschlimann, B., and Herzog, W. (2019). The gender gap in stem fields: The impact of the gender stereotype of math and science on secondary students’ career aspirations. Frontiers in Education, 4.

Marcom, G. S. and Aragão, T. Z. B. (2022). Gender inequality and science education: Comparison with brazilian students in pisa and enem. Acta Scientiae, 24(4):57–80.

Medeiros, A., Ferreira, I. B. M. C., Fonseca, L., and Rolim, C. (2022). Percepções sobre a tecnologia da informação por alunas de ensino médio: um estudo sobre gênero e escolhas profissionais. In Anais do Women in Information Technology (WIT), pages 122–132. SBC. ISSN: 2763-8626.

Novaes, T. S., Lins, K. D. S., Neto, A. G. S. S., Setti, M. d. O. G., and Emer, M. C. F. P. (2023). Despertando o Interesse de Mulheres para os Cursos em STEM. In Anais do Women in Information Technology (WIT), pages 103–112. SBC. ISSN: 2763-8626.

Ramos, A. I. M. and Araújo, F. O. (2022). Questões de Gênero e a Evasão de Mulheres nos Cursos de Computação: Um Estudo de Caso na Região Metropolitana de Belém. In Anais do Women in Information Technology (WIT), pages 239–244. SBC. ISSN: 2763-8626.

Sakellariou, C. and Fang, Z. (2021). Self-efficacy and interest in stem subjects as predictors of the stem gender gap in the us: The role of unobserved heterogeneity. International Journal of Educational Research, 109:101821.

Santos, M. E. S. d., Rocha, T. S., Brasileiro, V. L. J., and Souza, C. C. d. (2019). What computing brazilian community is saying about gender gap. IEEE Revista Iberoamericana de Tecnologias del Aprendizaje, 14(4):162–167.

Zakariya, Y. F. (2022). Improving students’ mathematics self-efficacy: A systematic review of intervention studies. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. Publisher: Frontiers.