Sexism in Science, Technology, Education, and Mathematics: Women are discriminated in the field of science, technology, education, and mathematics, which results in underrepresentation and a huge gender gap in these fields. This further causes more young women to avoid STEM careers, continuing the gender gap.
Root Cause: Lack of women pursuing STEM college degrees; There is a significant higher number of men who pursue STEM college degrees than women. This shows how women were put at a disadvantage at the beginning of adulthood and even less choose to continue to pursue STEM careers after college, creating a gender gap in the workplace.
Citation: “The STEM Gap: Women and Girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math – AAUW : Empowering Women Since 1881.” AAUW, 5 Oct. 2020, www.aauw.org/resources/research/the-stem-gap/.
Root Cause: Lack of exposure before college; In elementary school, middle school, and high school, there are a limited number of classes or activities in school like clubs that promotes STEM subjects like technology especially in some low socioeconomic neighborhoods. Events and experiences at a young age are helpful in sparking interest, but the lack of these leaves limited time for exploration for young girls before choosing a major in college.
Citation: “The STEM Gap: Women and Girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math – AAUW : Empowering Women Since 1881.” AAUW, 5 Oct. 2020, www.aauw.org/resources/research/the-stem-gap/.
-
Citation: Margolis, Jonathan. “Stem Education Is Becoming Simplified and Commoditised.” Subscribe to Read | Financial Times, Financial Times, 14 May 2019, www.ft.com/content/eb36f0a4-71b4-11e9-bf5c-6eeb837566c5.
Root Cause: Lack of role models; There are few women role models for young girls that can be found around them and also on media in the fields of science, technology, education, and mathematics, so there is less inspiration to look up to and does not spark interests easily.
Citation: “The STEM Gap: Women and Girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math – AAUW : Empowering Women Since 1881.” AAUW, 5 Oct. 2020, www.aauw.org/resources/research/the-stem-gap/.
Citation: Green, Catherine. “I Was Tired of Gender Stereotypes in STEM Careers so I Set up a Publishing Company to Change the next Generation's Perceptions - Kerrine Bryan, Engineer and Founder of Butterfly Books.” Womanthology, 17 Sept. 2020, www.womanthology.co.uk/tired-gender-stereotypes-stem-careers-set-publishing-company-change-next-generations-perceptions-kerrine-bryan-engineer-founder-butterfly-books/.
Root Cause: Math stereotypes; Teachers and parents tend to underestimate a young girl's ability in math and also tend to promote the idea that girls are bad at math compared to boys starting at a young age. This results in young girls being put down about their abilities since teachers and parents both have huge influences on a child.
Citation: “The STEM Gap: Women and Girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math – AAUW : Empowering Women Since 1881.” AAUW, 5 Oct. 2020, www.aauw.org/resources/research/the-stem-gap/.
Citation: “Girl-Doing-Math-2019-Sb-Report-Video-Billboard-Pic.” Food Research & Action Center, 9 Feb. 2019, frac.org/girl-doing-math-2019-sb-report-video-billboard-pic.
Effect: Cycle of lack of role models; Role models play a crucial role in increasing inspiration, motivation, and confidence within others. However, the already existing gender gap in STEM careers drastically decreases the number of role models available to lead young women, which discourages more women to pursue STEM careers. Then, the cycle of the lack of role model continues on and continues to create a gender gap.
Citation: Connell, Molly. “Lack of Female Role Models Undermining STEM Career Paths.” The Business Woman Media, 15 Apr. 2017, www.thebusinesswomanmedia.com/female-undermining-career-paths/.
Citation: McGrane, Clare. “Misconceptions and Stereotypes May Discourage Girls from Studying STEM, Study Finds.” GeekWire, 13 Mar. 2018, www.geekwire.com/2018/misconceptions-stereotypes-may-discourage-girls-studying-stem-study-finds/.
Effect: Lack of skillset diversity in the workplace; Due to to the lack of women in STEM fields, there is a lack of skillset diversity in these fields. This is because women are able to bring new ideas and different skills compared to men, but these skills are lacking in STEM fields since women are underrepresented and discriminated.
Citation: The Kaleidoscope Group. “The Lack Of Gender Diversity In STEM Fields.” The Kaleidoscope Group, The Kaleidoscope Group Https://Kgdiversity.com/Wp-Content/Uploads/2016/12/Kglogo.png, 10 Jan. 2019, kgdiversity.com/lack-of-diversity-stem/.
Solution: Provide more access to STEM topics in K-12 education; Governments should make it mandatory for all schools to provide a certain number of STEM classes that must be taken by students starting from elementary school. Also, more STEM electives should be imposed because this allows students to have a wide variety of STEM topics to explore starting at a young age. Lastly, the number of STEM clubs should start in elementary and middle school, not in high school, so students have earlier chances to explore broader topics. In order to achieve this solution, we can write to lawmakers, politicians, and government officials to advocate for these changes.
Citation: “The STEM Gap: Women and Girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math – AAUW : Empowering Women Since 1881.” AAUW, 5 Oct. 2020, www.aauw.org/resources/research/the-stem-gap/.
-
Citation: “The STEM Gap: Women and Girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math – AAUW : Empowering Women Since 1881.” AAUW, 5 Oct. 2020, www.aauw.org/resources/research/the-stem-gap/.
Solution: Hire people who do not discriminate against women in STEM; Often in workplaces, women face the problem of not being able to express their ideas or receive the respect and opportunity to shine. This is due to discrimination within the coworkers and managers. So, when a company hires people, the company should be cautious and be sure that the person being hired doesn't discriminate against women. Then, the work environment would not promote discrimination and provide women equal pay and equal respect as men.
Citation: “Women in STEM: A Guide to Bridging the Gender Gap: IEEE Computer Society.” IEEE Computer Society Women in STEM A Guide to Bridging the Gender Gap Comments, www.computer.org/publications/tech-news/trends/a-guide-to-bridging-the-gender-gap.
Citation: “Making the Workplace Culture More Welcoming to Women in STEM.” IEEE Innovation at Work, 16 Mar. 2020, innovationatwork.ieee.org/making-the-workplace-culture-more-welcoming-to-women-in-stem/.
Root Cause: Stereotype threat; There is a stereotype that men naturally are more talented in STEM fields, so women tend to feel the pressure and choose to not try STEM fields. Women also tend to start out with the thought that they will not succeed in the end, which discourages persistence to continue or even start.
Citation: Western Governors University. “Why Are There So Few Women In STEM.” Western Governors University, Western Governors University, 20 Oct. 2020, www.wgu.edu/blog/why-are-there-so-few-women-in-stem1907.html.
Root Cause: Discrimination in college; In college, young women are discriminated against by classmates and professors, especially males, which discourages them to continue to pursue STEM careers after college. This then results in the low percentage of young women who choose to continue STEM as their career.
Citation: Western Governors University. “Why Are There So Few Women In STEM.” Western Governors University, Western Governors University, 20 Oct. 2020, www.wgu.edu/blog/why-are-there-so-few-women-in-stem1907.html.
Effect: Hard to succeed in workplace; Since most coworkers around will be men, it becomes hard for women to be accepted into the group and be recognized. The discrimination may be both on purpose or unconscious. This impact is the largest on women already in the STEM field or women who are trying to find jobs.
Citation: “Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).” Minnesota State, careerwise.minnstate.edu/careers/womenstem.html.
Effect: Lower average salaries; Men earn "nearly $15, 000 higher per year than women." This shows how women tend to receive unfair treatment in pay in the workplace. This impacts women already in the STEM careers and also affects women who are considering STEM careers because salary is something that people tend to look factor in when choosing a job.
Citation: “The STEM Gap: Women and Girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math – AAUW : Empowering Women Since 1881.” AAUW, 5 Oct. 2020, www.aauw.org/resources/research/the-stem-gap/.
-
CST: Life and Dignity of the Human Person; The life and dignity of the human person states that everyone was given dignity by God through Creation that can never be taken away, so people should respect and care about each other. Women should be respected and be treated equally to be able to allow women to flourish and perform their best, which fulfills the dignity given by God during Creation. So, women should not be looked down upon during their education by teachers and classmates on their STEM abilities and provided the opportunity for further exploration in STEM majors. Also, women should not be mistreated in the workplace because women should be respected for all of their actions, which is the dignity given by God.
CST: Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers; The dignity of work and the rights of workers states that all work should be recognized to do something positive in the community and that all workers should be equal and have reasonable rights in order to perform the best. So, women should receive equal treatment in workplaces and not be discriminated on by colleagues because all work should be respected. In addition, the pay should be equal because the work should be recognized and that pay is part of working rights, which should be reasonable and equal for the same amount of work.
