Gender Gap In STEM

Since the beginning of time, women have been given fewer opportunities than men in every aspect of life, whether it be the right to vote, the right to work, or to this day – receiving equal pay, women have to face sexism.

Unequal representation of women in STEM is more prevalent than ever. Women make up a mere 28% of the STEM workforce, showing how much men outnumber women in these fields. Some reasons for this low percentage include gender stereotypes and the fact that STEM is a male-dominated culture. In some eyes, STEM fields are more masculine which makes teachers and parents underestimate the ability of girls in math starting as early as preschool. Since there are such few women in STEM, the field is heavily male-dominated, making it not so inviting for women or minorities. Another major reason that more women do not enter STEM is that women who have aspirations to be an engineer, a mathematician, a scientist, etc. do not have many role models to look up to, especially in media and popular culture. On top of this, Latina and Black women are shown even less in STEM fields. Another shocking reason for women not entering STEM is math anxiety. Math anxiety comes from mainly female teachers who pass on their math anxiety to younger girls. They then in turn grade the girls harder than the boys because they believe girls need to work harder than boys to earn a better grade.

Speaking of math anxiety, one of the worst American beliefs about math is that there are only some people who can be good at math (mainly boys). However, there is research proving that there is no cognitive difference between men and women in math, meaning women are able to perform at the same level as men, or even better in math. Girls tend to lose their confidence in their math abilities by 3rd grade, meanwhile, boys in 2nd grade believe they are strong at math. This gender gap in math is present in elementary school but on top of that, boys who come from higher-income or white neighborhoods do better in math than girls who go to the same schools. This differs from a low-income or predominantly Black area where girls do better than boys in math.

Especially in college, women are very underrepresented in STEM majors. Only 21% of engineering majors are women and only 19% are computer or information science majors. In the workplace, men who work in STEM get paid almost $15,000 dollars more per year than women with Latina and Black women earning $33,000 less than white men and women. Half of the women who work in STEM have said that they’ve experienced gender discrimination or sexual harassment in their workplace. Women face these issues because of their unequal representation in STEM making men feel as though women are less to them or not smart enough for the job when the reality is the opposite.

Now that we’ve spoken about the gender gap in STEM and it has proven obvious that women are treated unequally and unfairly in STEM majors and workplaces, stemming from elementary school, what can we do to fix the issue? For one, we need to make girls aware that they are smart enough to be in STEM and have the same capabilities. Parents need to encourage their daughters as much as they encourage their sons in science and math. Make sure that women and women of color in STEM are shown as strong role models. Another way to fix the issue is to have better STEM education for girls in K-12 schools. Teachers need to be aware of the biases toward girls in math and science in order to avoid passing on math anxiety and to stop holding girls and boys to different standards when in fact they are equal. More than anything, girls need to be encouraged to take math and science classes so that they feel empowered and ready to face the biases and stereotypes as early as elementary school. In terms of women in STEM majors and careers – make these areas seem more welcoming and friendly towards women – not something for them to be scared and shy away from. Take responsibility for sexual harassment or discrimination that occurs in college and beyond and work to make it more transparent. Recruit female employees if they are a better fit for a job than a man, especially Latina and Black women. Put anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies in place in order to ensure that it is not tolerated in the workplace.

It’s time that women are finally treated as equal to their male counterparts. We can put a stop to discrimination and the fear of STEM for women by working together to make the community a more welcoming place.