Women’s Experiences of Discrimination and Their Success Expectations in Higher Education: Evidence from Gendered Fields of Study

Abstract

Abstract Women’s underrepresentation in male-dominated fields of study is often attributed to a gender gap in success expectations. Prior research shows that female students report lower confidence in their academic abilities and future success than men, not only in male-dominated but also in female-dominated and gender-integrated fields. These lower success expectations can negatively affect women’s academic paths, making it important to understand the factors that shape them. Although existing studies highlight the positive role of social experiences in shaping women’s success expectations, particularly in male-dominated fields, women are also more likely than men to experience discrimination, which may undermine these benefits. However, the role of discrimination experiences in shaping success expectations in higher education remains underexplored. This study examines how female students’ discrimination experiences contribute to the gender gap in students’ success expectations and investigates whether the relationship between discrimination experiences and success expectations among female students varies across fields of study with varying gender ratios. Using data from 9,512 students collected as part of the Student Survey in Germany (SiD), we analyze female students’ discrimination experiences and their associations with success expectations in male-dominated, female-dominated, and gender-integrated fields of study. The results show that women, particularly in male-dominated fields, report higher levels of discrimination than men. These experiences contribute to the overall gender gap in success expectations. However, detailed analyses reveal that only relational discrimination experiences, such as social exclusion or unfair treatment, are significantly associated with female students’ success expectations, revealing a seeming paradox: this association emerges primarily in female-dominated rather than male-dominated fields, even though female students experience more discrimination in the latter. This suggests that the consequences of discrimination for success expectations are context-dependent and may reflect different coping strategies across disciplines. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between types of discrimination and contexts when examining gender disparities in success expectations. Furthermore, they underscore the need for targeted interventions addressing relational discrimination to support women’s academic confidence in higher education.