Female participation in research and development: the role of government and defense spending
This study analyzes how defense spending has biased research and development (R&D) institutions and the path of technological change in a specifically gendered way. Military considerations have long played a significant role in the development of science, technology, and industry. The large role played by military spending in shaping R&D has biased R&D institutions towards militaristic purposes, especially in the United States. Furthermore, this relatively militaristic organizational culture in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) may affect men and women differently. Prior research indicates that women may be more likely than men to self-select out of STEM due to a greater aversion to militarism, and militaristic institutions may be more likely to discriminate against women and/or reinforce occupational segregation frameworks based on more traditional gender roles. Chapter 1 applies a difference-in-difference methodology to demonstrate how changes in Federal defense R&D spending in the U.S. can alter the gender composition of engineers in the U.S. Chapter 2 uses panel data from 46 different countries to assess the effects of defense spending on the differing gender compositions of research workers across countries. Using the institutional framework of ceremonial encapsulation of technology, Chapter 3 analyzes the broader institutional structures of STEM work and R&D, specifically the ways in which defense spending implicitly genders the institutional structures of STEM in the United States, and proposes avenues for future research on this topic.
feminist economics, military-industrial complex, STEM, gender, defense spending, research and development
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