Why are there so few women in STEM?

Women make up only 28% of the workforce in science, technology, engineering and math, and men greatly outnumber women majoring in most STEM fields in college. Additionally, the gender gaps are even higher in fields like computer science and engineering which are the fastest-growing and highest-paid jobs of the future. Among countless other benefits, encouraging more women to pursue STEM careers and giving them the equal opportunity to do it helps to prevent biases in products and services, create a diverse workforce, and strength economic security. So, why are there so few women in STEM?

"Girls and women are systematically tracked away from science and math throughout their educations, limiting their training and options to go into these fields as adults" - American Association of University Women

There are 3 main factors that contribute to the gender gap. One, gender stereotypes. Even as early as preschool, teachers and parents underestimate girls' math skills, and the fields often are associated as masculine. Two, some male-dominated cultures are not supportive of women studying and working in STEM. Along with these two factors, another problem arises: fewer role models. Because there are such few women in STEM, girls do not have as many role models to look up to, nor they do not often see examples of female engineers or scientists in the media and popular culture. Furthermore, this problem is even greater for Black women in math and science.

From as early as elementary schools, myths about the abilities of girls in math are perpetuated with no research or evidence that shows any biological differences. Because of this, many girls lose confidence in math by third grade, while boys feel stronger in math by 2nd grade. In college, there is even more of a significant gap in STEM majors. In engineering majors, only 21% of students are women, and, in computer science majors, only 19% are women.

Later in the workforce, less than 40% of women who major in computers go onto work in computer fields, and just 24% who major in engineering go onto work in an engineering field. As we can see, the number of women majoring is already so low, but there is also another issue when it comes to actually tacking gender biases in hiring in the workforce.

Next week, we will discuss actions that we can and must take to close this gender gap.