‘You have exactly what it takes’: two interventions for increasing women’s self-efficacy and belongingness in engineering

To increase women’s interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), interventions that target self-efficacy and belongingness are needed. For this purpose, this study designed and tested two interventions. In Study 1, we tested if a video with female role models increases young women’s expected belongingness and interest in engineering. In Study 2, we tested if positive feedback on an engineering ability quiz increases self-efficacy and interest in engineering. We also tested the effects of the two interventions combined. The results showed that positive feedback on the engineering quiz increased women’s self-efficacy and interest in studying engineering. Further, women who saw the role model video rated belongingness for engineering higher than controls in Study 1, but this result was not replicated in Study 2. The interventions are promising for the purpose of finding easily implemented interventions that may help meet the increasing recruitment demands in STEM and reduce gender segregation.