Empirical study

 

 Abstract

The research below was conducted on students of the University of Western Cape in order to establish what are their perceptions of the female characters in fiction movies. The method of research used was the use of questionnaire and most of the questions provided were close ended questionnaire. The questionnaire was conducted on three groups; Mathematics students, science students and technology students. Findings from the research are to be used to convince the grant committee that further research has to be done so as to increase the recognition of women in the field of stem.

Introduction

The topic under study is correlation between male university students of the Western Cape STM students and their perception on fictional scientists and their perception on women in STEM. The empirical study was conducted to establish the perception that people have om these female scientists and the women in STEM.  The main method of conducting data used was use of closed questionnaire, many questions have been posed to this male students since it is their opinion of the fictional characters that I seek to come to a conclusion to. This research is important to establish peoples view and to help the grant committee to further research on how female in the field of stem are perceived. The results of this research show that much has to be done.

Methods

The first questionnaire was carried out on three science students of the university. The information obtained from this students was treated as confidential information. The duration taken to finish the questionnaire was 15 minutes. Close ended questionnaires are time saving since the respondents are only allowed to choose from the available answers. Another advantage that was presented by this form of questionnaire (). The first question in the questionnaire was to draw a scientist, with this question I wanted to know how the students viewed a scientist. I was not shocked when everyone drew a sketch of a male on the space provided.

The next question I asked the respondents to answer how they would describe a scientist. The respondents were to choose from a table with listed characteristic. The table had 30 characteristics. According to Frisch (2006) scientists are people who are passionate about their work and are people who work hard to improve their communication skills. Also the students undergoing the questionnaire were asked to name a female scientists in a movie and if they could not they were allowed to respond with none to the questionnaire There are so many female characters who play scientists in many films an example is Ellie Sattler whose real name is Laura Dern, she appeared as a scientists in the film Jurassic park III and also among the list of women who play scientists is Jodie foster in the film Arroway (Casino, n.d).

The respondents were asked to name a character who plays scientists whether male or female and identify the perception they have on the character whether female or male. The students were asked to indicate whether it is a female or male scientist character that they are likely to come across, they confidentially gave their answers. The students undergoing questionnaire were also asked to agree or disagree that the gender gap in technology is caused by the biological difference between women and men. The students were also given a selection of qualities and from them they were to choose the qualities they see suitable to describe the great scientist Albert Einstein. They were also given a selection of qualities to choose from as they describe Marie Curie.

The next questionnaire was conducted on three mathematics students and they answered most of the questions that were presented to the science students. They were asked to draw a scientist, choose characteristics of a scientist. They were also asked to describe the character of Temperance Brenman (Bones).  They were also asked to describe the character of Sheldon Copper a character in the series The Big Bang.  They were asked to disagree or agree with the statement that men are better scientists because they are more rational than women. The next questionnaire was conducted on technology student.  They were asked to respond to the same questions that were asked to the two previous groups of students.

DISCUSION

The first two questions of the questionnaire were compulsory, the questions were asking them to draw a scientist and name characters of a scientist, the sketches made by these students show that they view scientists as males since none of the drawings indicate anything that would resemble a woman. One student in the group failed to discuss the figure he/she has drawn while the two who described the figures they had drawn explained scientists as people who are calm and composed, one went ahead to describe that they have spikey hair since they do not get a lot of sleep. Mathematics students also described scientists as people who are calm and have shaggy or spikey hair, in their sketches none was seen to be a sketch of a woman. Technology students were also asked to sketch scientists and describe them and to my surprise none of these male students had drawn a figure that would represent a feminine shape. These male student failed to recognize fictional female scientists in in STEM.

They were asked to describe a scientist using qualities that were already mentioned in the questionnaire. Mathematics students choose characteristics such as rational, organized, intelligent, responsible, competent, hard work, reliable and decisive. The second group which is mathematics students descried a scientist as; rational, hardworking, assertive, responsible, objective and confident. Lastly, the technology. The questionnaire requires these students to mention any fictional characters they know and characters such as Sheldon Copper of the big bang, Dr. Who of a film that goes with the same and Cisco Ramon a character in The Flash were mentioned. Some of the students failed to identify any scientist but then it is important to note that no student identified a female character. These students only give examples of male scientists while the Big Bang Theory has other female characters such as Amy (McIntosh, 2014).

The most important question in the questionnaire is the one these students are asked to either disagree or agree that men are more suitable as scientist than women since they are more rational. It is a good thing that most students disagreed with this statement and stated that anyone who is qualified can be a scientist. Another important question concerns what causes the gap that exist between women and men in tech. some students agreed that difference in gender is one of the cause while others disagreed with that for various reasons. Previous research conducted indicates that the gap existing in tech is caused by difference in gender. Looking at the percentage of female employees in giant tech companies it can be noted that the percentage is low; Intel has a percentage of 24% and Google has a percentage of 31% (thussong, 2015). These male students fail to recognize fiction female scientists because they have grown up in a society that does not give credit to women who have accomplished great heights in the fields of science, technology and mathematics.

All this comes down to the conclusion that gender inequality exist, the reason none of the students sketched a female figure is clear indication that the field of STEM cannot be identified with women. This failure to identify female fiction characters in film is reflected in the real world. In the United States only 27% of students taking AP computer science are female but those women who come from countries with high gender inequality are engaging more in STEM, an example is Algeria where 41% of female graduates are graduating in the field of STEM (Khzan, 2018).

Due to the findings of the research conducted I would recommend the grant committee to conduct more research that will aim at creating awareness of the females in STEM so that their representation in fiction films can be noted and appreciated. Also more research that aim at encouraging women to involve themselves in the disciplines of technology, mathematics and science. Research to find ways in which films will be made representing more female fictional characters so as to inspire women in the real world.

Conclusion

The research above was conducted in order to establish how male students of the university view female characters who play scientists in fiction movies. The research was conducted on three groups of students, mathematics students, science students and technology students. I used questionnaire to conduct this research, questions such as drawing a scientist and mentioning fictional scientists that they know were posed to them. The questionnaire was conducted using the shortest time possible with each questionnaire estimated to take about 15 minutes. Most of the students when asked to draw a scientist drew figures of men,  and this can be interpreted by the fact that even in the real world  women who accomplish great deeds in the field of mathematics, science and technology are not regarded highly. Also when identify fictional scientists in great movies such as The Big Bang they failed to recognize female scientists such as Amy and focused on the men such as Sheldon Copper. Research has shown that women’s place in STEM has been greatly ignored. The difference in gender is the main cause of the tech gap that exist. Further research has to be done so as to increase the recognition of female characters in fiction which will result to acknowledgment of this people in the real world society.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

Casino, A. (n.d). The best Female Scientists in Film. Retrived from;           https://www.ranker.com/list/best-female-scientists-in-film/anncasano

Frisch, L. (2016). The 10 Qualities of Scientist (communicator) Leaders. Retrieved from;             http://beforetheabstract.com/2016/10/20/the-top-10-qualities-of-scientist-communicator-   leaders/

Heather McIntosh (2014) Representations of Female Scientists in The Big Bang Theory, Journal of Popular Film and Television, 42:4, 195-204, DOI: 10.1080/01956051.2014.896779

Khazan, O. (2018). The More Gender Inequality the Fewer Women in STEM. Retrieved from;                 https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/02/the-more-gender-equality-the-          fewer-women-in-stem/553592/

Thussong (2015). Women @ Work: Closing the Gender Gap. Retrieved from;             https://www.thesoftwareguild.com/blog/closing-the-tech-gender-gap/