Research/Study

Study Finds That Woman Instructors Pull in More Women Students in STEM Fields

Coursera is an online learning platform that was founded in 2012 by two computer science professors at Stanford University. The company now partners with 149 partner universities to offer about 2,000 courses online.

Examining its massive database of 25 million course takers, Coursera found that women comprised only 34 percent of all students who completed courses in STEM fields on the Coursera platform. The company conducted an experiment by sending a promotional email to its student database about a new course in machine learning. Identical emails were sent out with one showing a male instructor and one showing a woman instructor.

The results showed that women were 26 more likely to enroll in a course with a woman instructor than the course with a male instructor. Male learners showed no gender preference for instructors. Armed with this information, Coursera is seeking out more women instructors for STEM courses in an effort to increase the enrollments of women in order to close the gender gap in these online offerings.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Articles

Latest News

Shelley Barkley Named the First Woman President of Spoon River College in Illinois

0
Dr. Barkley is slated to become the first woman president of Spoon River College on August 31. She comes to her new role from John Wood Community College in Quincy, Illinois, where she serves as vice president of academic and student affairs.

Denise Eby Konan to Lead Academic Affairs at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

0
Dr. Konan, a professor of economics and dean of the College of Social Sciences at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, has been selected to serve as the university's interim provost. A faculty member for more than 30 years, she previously served as interim chancellor.

Eileen Glover Is the New Leader of River Valley Community College in New Hampshire

0
Dr. Glover has served as River Valley's chair of allied health programs for the past five years, overseeing the licensed practical nursing, respiratory therapy, radiological technology, and medical laboratory technician programs.

Jennifer Bonds-Raacke Appointed President of the Kansas Board of Regents

0
As president of the Kansas Board of Regents, Dr. Bonds-Raacke will provide strategic leadership to the state's 32 public higher education institutions. A former president of Saint Martin's University in Washington, Dr. Bonds-Raack has been serving as the board of regents' vice president for academic affairs.

Jennifer L. Brown to Lead Montana State University-Northern

0
Jennifer Brown has been named interim chancellor of Montana State University-Northern. A scholar of economics, she has served as the university's provost since 2023.

Latest Job Listings

Cummings Family Professor of the Practice in Entrepreneurship and Director Derby Entrepreneurship Center

0
Tufts University’s Gordon Institute is seeking an exceptional leader to shape the future of entrepreneurship education as the Cummings Family Professor of the Practice in Entrepreneurship and the Director of the Derby Entrepreneurship Center.

Assistant Professor, Palaeoanthropology

0
The Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto Mississauga invites applications for a full-time tenure stream position in the area of Palaeoanthropology, with a focus on early hominins, including early Homo.

Assistant Clinical Professor of Law / Clinical Professor of Law 2026-2027

0
The University of California, Irvine School of Law invites applications for a full-time clinical faculty position, with security of employment or potential for security of employment, to begin on July 1, 2027.

Acting/Full Professor of Law 2026-2027

0
The University of California, Irvine School of Law invites applications for tenured/tenure-track faculty positions with a start date of July 1, 2027, in all subject areas.

Assistant Professor of Teaching, Lawyering Skills / Professor of Teaching, Lawyering Skills 2026-2027

0
The University of California, Irvine School of Law invites applications for a full-time Lawyering Skills faculty position, with security of employment or potential for security of employment, to begin on July 1, 2027.