The Hidden Cost of Perceived Gender Bias in STEM Education

It started back in 2019 with a casual lunch conversation about how we at SMU could attract more female students to our newly created Computer Science program.

That chat quickly evolved, moving beyond recruitment to retention and enrichment. What began as an informal discussion morphed into a full-blown research project, and ultimately, a newly published paper sharing our findings:

We found that perceived gender bias forces female STEM students into an internal clash between their gender and professional identities, directly lowering their grades and career ambitions. To stop losing female talent, institutions must look beyond surface-level fixes and invest in identity-affirming cultures and mentorship that help women feel they truly belong.

Professionally, this isn’t the typical technical paper I write in my field. But as an educator, and as a father to two daughters, it is easily one of the most meaningful research projects I’ve ever been a part of. I hope we can continue working with my coauthors to discover the levers that will create a truly safe and empowering environment for our next generation of female scientists and engineers.

Full text to the paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40594-026-00635-w.