Solving for X in the Y Domain: Overcoming Gender-Based Barriers to Leadership in STEM

The purpose of this qualitative, feminist phenomenological study was to capture and describe the lived experiences of women who are leaders in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and who have used buffering behaviors to overcome gender-based barriers to career advancement. This study is set within the framework of Bandura's social cognitive theory which holds that an individual can consciously learn and choose behaviors that will influence outcomes within their environments. Two aspects of social cognitive theory, self-regulation and self-efficacy, are central to the study. This study showed that strategies and behaviors exist that women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics can utilize to overcome the pervasive gender-based barriers to leadership frequently encountered in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Foundational to one's ability to apply these mitigating mechanisms known as buffering behaviors is a strong sense of self-efficacy, which developed for the women in this study early in life. The implications of these findings suggest that in addition to providing access and encouragement for young girls to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics, messages and experiences that develop self-efficacy and the development of buffering behaviors are essential.