Outfits Serve as Symbols for Overlapping Feminine and STEM Identity Goals.

Abstract

Women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) juggle between their feminine and professional identity goals. The present research views these struggles from the perspective of identity goal pursuits. Women in STEM may use different, sometimes even symbolic, ways to strive for the two identity goals, for example, by wearing outfits that reflect femininity, their profession, or both. In two studies, we tested to what extent these two goals overlap (are seen as similar) and whether the higher overlap between feminine and STEM professional identity goals is related to the preference for outfits that may serve two goals at the same time or only one of them. In Study 1 (N = 232), we found that willingness to wear an outfit serving both identity goals was positively related to the participant's identity goal overlap. Study 2 (N = 226) showed that overlap was related to the evaluation of the chosen outfits. Participants evaluating the chosen outfits as more multifinal reported higher overlap between the two identity goals.