The Impact of Stereotype Threat on Female Students' Learning Experiences in STEM: Mechanisms and Coping Strategies

Abstract

Globally, women have long had low participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, particularly during higher education and career development stages. Despite gender equality policies implemented in many countries, gender stereotypes still subtly influence women's subject choices and career paths. This qualitative study explores how gender stereotype threat shapes female students' STEM learning experiences and identifies their coping mechanisms, drawing on sociological frameworks. Through in-depth interviews with five Chinese high school/pre-university students, the study reveals that hegemonic gender stereotypes permeate educational, familial, and social fields. These stereotypes manifest as gendered differential treatment, attributional bias, and normative societal expectations, triggering self-identity threat among female students. However, participants exhibited agency through adaptive identity work: using academic achievement to counter stereotypes, seeking social capital, and disregarding gendered microaggressions. Supportive familial social capital and female role models emerged as critical buffering factors. The study emphasizes the need for structural transformation alongside individual-level support to advance gender equity in STEM education.