Pathways, intersections and leaky pipelines: the cognitive function of metaphors for research on STEM careers

With the present forum contribution, I respond to the paper “Discerning contextual complexities in STEM career pathways—Insights from successful Latinas” by Alejandro Gallard Martínez, Wesley Pitts, Silvia Lizette Ramos de Robles, Katie L. Milton Brkich, Belinda Flores Bustos, and Lorena Claeys. I aim to augment the thoughts of Gallard Martínez et al. with a meta-analysis of the specific methodological approach. I point out the function and, likewise, the importance of metaphors for modelling and theoretically conceptualizing research. I argue, that metaphors have a clarifying function in accentuating the focus and perspective of research, which, in consequence, influences the theoretical modelling, and, in particular, the choice of research methods and the data interpretation. I focus on the three concept domains, PIPELINE, PATHWAY and INTERSECTION, as each concept provides knowledge structure, which, in current research, is projected on STEM careers of women. Further, I elaborate limitations of the leaky pipeline metaphor, as it does not provide adequate structural similarities to highlight the situated social, cultural, and historical dimensions of STEM, as well as their materialization in individual experiences and the positioning of human beings. I close my contribution by highlighting approaches of intersectional analysis in the field of STEM.