Factors Influencing Women’s Career Choice in STEM: A Case Study of Batam State Polytechnic Alumni
Downloads
This study aims to determine the factors influencing women's career choices and the most dominant factor among female alumni from the Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at Batam State Polytechnic, particularly in the field of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) engineering. This study uses a quantitative approach with the factor analysis method and a sample of 100 respondent alumni selected via the saturated sampling technique. The results showed that the most dominant factor in women's career choices in STEM engineering is the personality factor. This study confirms that, although personality emerged as the dominant factor, the financial reward factor and family environment factor also influence women's career decisions. In this study, 11 variables were reduced to three key factors driving women's career choices in engineering: personality, financial rewards, and family environment. The practical implication of this study is the need for mentorship programs, increased information about the prospects of financial rewards, and more intensive family support to encourage more women to pursue careers in engineering. This research makes a theoretical contribution to understanding women's career motivations in STEM fields and can serve as a basis for promotion to prospective students.
Acker, J. (2020). The gendered institution: Exploring the intersection of gender, power, and work. Gender & Society, 34(3), 408–429. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243220912387
Alawi, W. S. S., & Al Mubarak, M. M. (2019). Gender gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM): Barriers and solutions. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 9(6), 225–231. https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.8908
Arismutia. (2017). The effect of financial rewards and labor market considerations on accounting students’ interest in a career as a public accountant (Study on students of the accounting study program STIE INABA Bandung). Journal of Indonesia Building, 16(2), 46–68. http://jurnal-inaba.hol.es
Baird, C. L. (2018). Male-dominated STEM disciplines: How do we make them more attractive to women? IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Magazine, 21(3), 4–14. https://doi.org/10.1109/MIM.2018.8360911
Bian, L., Leslie, S. J., & Cimpian, A. (2020). Gender stereotypes about intellectual ability emerge early and influence children’s interests. Science, 369(6501), 573–577. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay2325
Binns, J. (2021). Workplace gender equality in STEM fields: Overcoming stereotypes and structural barriers. Gender, Work & Organization, 28(1), 26–38. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12457
Carlone, H. B., & Johnson, A. (2020). Understanding the science experiences of successful women of color in STEM. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 57(5), 667–690. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21755
Cech, E. A., & Waidzunas, T. J. (2020). The persistence of gender inequality in engineering: A critical review of the literature. Journal of Engineering Education, 109(2), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20323
Cheryan, S., Ziegler, S. A., Montoya, A. K., & Jiang, L. (2017). Why are some STEM fields more gender balanced than others? Psychological Bulletin, 143(1), 1–35. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000042
Else-Quest, N. M., Hyde, J. S., & Linn, M. C. (2021). Cross-national patterns of gender differences in mathematics: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 147(5), 473–496. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000260
Friedman, H. S., & Kern, M. L. (2014). Personality, well-being, and health. Annual Review of Psychology, 65(1), 719–742.
Gender Equality Issues for Women in Indonesia – TFI. (2021). Student Activity BINUS. https://student-activity.binus.ac.id/tfi/2021/01/problems-of-gender-equality-against-women-in-indonesia/
Iroaganachi, M. A., Babalola, Y. T., & Soyemi, D. O. (2021). Environmental factors and STEM career path choice intentions of junior secondary school girls in North-Central Nigeria. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 8(1), 1945720.
Iscan, B. (2025). Why do some women choose STEM majors? International Journal of STEM Education, 12(1), 43.
McKinney, J., Chang, M. L., & Glassmeyer, D. (2021). Why females choose STEM majors: Understanding the relationships between major, personality, interests, self-efficacy, and anxiety. Journal for STEM Education Research, 4(3), 278–300.
Moss-Racusin, C. A., Dovidio, J. F., & Brescoll, V. L. (2018). Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(7), 12699–12704. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1809303115
Roberts, L. C., Hee, S. Y., & Chao, J. M. (2021). Gender, power, and work in STEM: Challenging traditional notions of ability. Journal of Social Issues, 77(3), 612–634. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12422
Sari, A. L., Irwandi, I., Rochmansjah, H. R., Nurdiansyah, I., & Aslam, D. F. (2021). MSMEs, gender equality and women’s empowerment in Indonesia. Indonesian Journal of Economics and Statistics, 1(1), 22–32. https://doi.org/10.11594/jesi.01.01.03
Sian, H., Allen, L., & Harris, K. (2021). Disrupting gender stereotypes in STEM education: Evidence from a large-scale intervention. Gender and Education, 33(4), 485–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2020.1830438
Sihotang, T. (2016). Rationality of college students in choosing mechanical engineering majors at Riau University. 4(2), 1–23.
Social, M. D. S. Y. P. (2014). Diktat mata kuliah pragmatik.
Sulistyowati, Y. (2021). Gender equality in the sphere of education and social system. IJOUGS: Indonesian Journal of Gender Studies, 1(2), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.21154/ijougs.v1i2.2317
Thugiang, N. (2022). An assessment of factors influencing career choices among fresh graduates: A survey of students majoring in business and economics. Journal of International Economics and Management.
Vicario, L., Fellycyano, E., Agung, T., & Harsiwi, M. (n.d.). Identification of factors that influence career choices of economics and business students in the Special Region of Yogyakarta.
Copyright (c) 2026 Shinta Wahyu Hati, Yesica Rumata Nababan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International. that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
