Celebrating Women in STEM!
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. When we’re talking about Women in STEM, we are talking about women accessing these subjects in higher education and pursuing a career in one of these areas. There is a gender imbalance across the world in the number of men and women accessing these subjects. So many have asked themselves…
Why aren’t there more women in STEM?
This has been a pressing question for a number of years, and while numerous initiatives have been introduced to address this matter, there are still low percentages of women working in STEM. Part of this disparity is the result of long-lived stereotypes about the abilities and interests of different genders – boys have typically been thought of being good at maths and science, while girls have been typically been associated with the creative arts and communication. There is of course no evidence of this being true; instead, gender stereotypes have translated into a lack of self-confidence in girls across the world, pushing them away from STEM subjects from a young age. As a result, girls and women have generally picked other subjects in secondary school and at university.
Have things changed over time?
Imagery representing women in STEM has increased over the years, slowly changing the narrative which typically pictures (only) men as scientists, experts and inventors. Representation of a more realistic, and less gendered, account has done great work in tackling these biases, thereby narrowing the gender gap. Today, girls are doing just as well as boys in school, and more female students are taking STEM subjects at university too. The UK's Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) shows that women make up 69% of students studying medical technology-related degrees. In particular, females represent the majority in anthropology (72%), ophthalmics (69%), anatomy, physiology and pathology (64%) and forensic science (61%). While, other STEM subjects still show a male majority, these trends highlight that more female students are accessing degrees which they have typically been excluded from in the past.
So, problem solved right? Why are we still talking about this?
While, the gender gap is closing at an educational level, both in schools and in universities, the same cannot be said for the workplace. In the UK, women make up just 21% of the STEM workforce, and the lowest representations are in Engineering and Computer Science degrees. In other words, women are accessing and qualifying in STEM subjects, yet they are not getting jobs in these areas. One of the reasons is persisting stereotypes, which inherently create marginalisation and a work environment in which gender defines treatment. But prior to accessing the workplace, individuals are confronted with gender bias at the recruiting stage. Studies have shown that around the world male applicants are significantly favoured over female ones – even if they hold the same qualifications. Part of this trend can be explained by the macho culture.
Men still make up the majority of employees
…in STEM-related businesses and organisations, and underlying or, indeed, outright discrimination against women leads to disparities and creates a sense of ‘not belonging’ within the company. Discrimination can take up many forms. Amongst others, women often have smaller offices, are rewarded less, and they are paid less compared to their male counterparts. Companies that favour long working hours and irregular shift patterns – especially in research roles – seemingly forget childcare, which falls onto women more often than not. Men may thereby be seen as more hard-working or more committed to their role, when in fact that would only be a superficial assessment of what ‘commitment’ looks like. Often, companies have policies that neglect maternity leave or host informal events after work hours, which again, have the potential of precluding women from engaging and networking with others in the field. More recently, it was found that 60% of female STEM students have had their future career prospects affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. What about women of colour, or stereotypes surrounding women with disabilities? Diverse workplaces allow all employees to thrive, typically generate greater creativity and are overall higher performing. They better reflect the ‘real world’ by bringing in different perspectives and including those in everything they do.
Scholarships & Female Researchers
As mentioned, there are numerous initiatives around the world aimed at changing the status quo. Amongst others, the British Council is offering scholarships aimed to increase opportunities in STEM for girls and women. According to UNESCO, fewer than 30% of researchers worldwide are women and only 30% of female students select STEM-related fields at University. This is particularly true for degrees such as Information and Communications Technology (3%), Natural Science, Mathematics and Statistics (5%), and Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction (8%). The British Council and many other organisations want to change that and aiming to increase the number of female researchers is just one of the many steps they are taking to close the gender gap.
Some statistics…
Overall, the percentage of female graduates with core STEM degrees is steadily growing, however, there is still more to be done to reduce the gender gap in STEM fields. Particularly in relation to encouraging women to both study these subjects, and transition into the workforce. More specifically, computer science and engineering and technology fields show the largest gender imbalances, from current students, to graduates and the workforce figures. Mentoring opportunities have also been highlighted as great factors in contributing to the retention of women in STEM-related fields. Subjects like physical science-related degrees have seen a steady increase in female graduates, showing that efforts to encourage women to study chemistry and physics-based subjects are working. More work has to be done here in the UK and worldwide to see similar trends across the board and that is why it is so important to keep talking about Women in STEM and to address the gender gap.
Links:
https://www.stemwomen.co.uk/blog/2021/01/women-in-stem-percentages-of-women-in-stem-statistics
https://www.britishcouncil.org/study-work-abroad/in-uk/scholarship-women-stem
https://onefile.co.uk/explore/why-arent-there-more-uk-women-in-stem/
