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Abstract
Women are important part of the overall STEM workforce and should have equal access to STEM fields, however, gender gaps exist and differ across STEM fields. The present study explored whether instructors’ non-content messages students reported hearing in a survey were related to gender gaps in STEM fields. Results indicated that majors such as biology and chemistry were more gender balanced than majors like computer science and engineering. Gender representation across STEM fields may play a role in students’ perceptions of instructors’ non-content messages: students in female-dominated STEM fields reported receiving more of these kinds of messages. Instructors’ non-content messages were found to be associated to students’ motivation and belonging, but in unexpected ways. Existed gender gaps across STEM fields continue to negatively relate to female students’ sense of belonging and interest towards STEM careers.