Visual imagery and STEM occupational attainment: Gender matters

Science, technology, engineering and mathematical (STEM) occupations are crucial for economic growth and individual financial stability, yet there is a STEM labour shortage, particularly among women. We examined how individual differences in visual imagery relate to characteristics of STEM occupations — specifically those requiring computational abilities. In a discovery cohort of 2357 online participants, we found that — consistent with prior research — spatial thinking was positively associated with STEM occupations for both males and females. Object imagery (mnemonic vividness), however, was negatively associated with STEM occupations that require computational thinking, possibly because efficient analytical reasoning abilities associate with low object imagery. This negative association was present for males, but not for females. We extended these findings to a sample of 1891 individuals with aphantasia (congenitally low imagery) and a sample of 186 university undergraduates. These results suggest that the well-known influence of spatial imagery is evident across genders, whereas an independent influence of non-spatial and non-visual abstract analytic abilities on computational STEM professions is confined to males. These findings have implications for policy in fostering careers in STEM, particularly for females.