Women In STEM: One Million Reasons To Keep On Empowering

06/02/2020
Guest Author
Careers Advice

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM for short, are all industries where men dominate the workforce, with women accounting for a small percentage of job roles. Women currently make up 24 per cent of core-STEM roles, but for the first time ever there are over one million women working in the industry. It’s a milestone worth shouting about, but there’s still more that needs to be done. Look back at 2019 and you’ll see just how far things have improved, with women now some of the most influential people in the industry – including Katie Bouman, the history-maker who engineered the first image of a black hole. In this article, we track the reasons why more women have chosen STEM in the past forty years, and why the numbers need to keep rising. Employment networking giant, LinkedIn, reported that more women entered STEM over any other industry in the last four decades. The benefits of this have been spelled out by the likes of philanthropist and former general manager at Microsoft, Melinda Gates, who stated: “Innovation happens when we approach urgent challenges from every different point of view. Bringing women and underrepresented minorities into the field guarantees that we see the full range of solutions to the real problems that people face in the world”.

Technology

On the flip side, the US tech industry — one where women are generally paid less than men, despite being one of the highest paying fields — has suffered its own mishaps for a lack of women in the workplace. In 2018, Fitbit faced criticism for their period tracker having a 10-day window. Had more women been involved in the development of the tool, it would have been spotted that it could last longer. In the UK, the numbers for women working as an IT professional decreased from 181,575 in 2018 to 180,600 in 2019 – showing that more action needs to be taken for women to benefit from the rapid tech industry growth.

Removing the bias

The idea, or bias, that men are better suited for certain tasks or professions than women has been around since history books began, with many people raised to believe that both genders are suited to very different things. In the US, one of those perceptions relates to the study of maths, (or math). Laura Segal, senior vice president for the American Association of University Women, summarised: “Teachers and parents provide explicit and implicit messages starting in early childhood that boys and men are ‘better’ at math, and the gaps in the professions reinforce the opportunities, culture, and lack of role models that perpetuate male dominance”. A lack of female role models has previously been a major factor as to why students avoided STEM courses. To combat this, exam boards introduced more content centred around famous women in the industry. More and more have learnt about Rosalind Franklin, the woman central to the understanding of DNA, among others, through the initiative. A-level results in 2019 showed that female students studied STEM courses (50.3%), outnumbering male students (49.7%) — proof that a removal of bias can lead to a positive outcome.

Engineering success

Unlike the decline in the UK tech industry, engineering has seen a steady increase in women taking up engineer roles. 2019 saw 50,475 women in engineering compared to 49,250 in 2018. Rewind the clock back to 2009 and you’ll find that the numbers have almost doubled when compared with the 2019’s figures. To put things in perspective, a lack of skilled STEM employees reportedly costs the UK economy £1.5 billion a year. While there’s equal opportunities with apprenticeships, only a fraction of STEM apprentices are filled by women. Lookers, who offer a range of servicing plans, are in their third year of offering female apprenticeships and are at the forefront of encouraging women to choose STEM, with engineering a key element of their business. The aim is to double the number of their female apprenticeships and continue to lead the way in making STEM the industry of choice.

Funding the change

Many women have reportedly left work environments like engineering due to a toxic masculine culture. Having to work twice as hard to earn respect and be taken seriously is seen as a major influence on a sharp exit and change in career. Hungry to improve the gender gap in STEM industries, philanthropists have donated $25 million towards boosting women’s interest and flipping the narrative that they’re careers for men. The hope is to inspire others to follow in the footsteps of those who’ve found success. A chunk of the money generated will be used to fund grants towards studying STEM courses.125 female ambassadors have been introduced to represent the different STEM-related careers, thanks to Lyda Hill Philanthropies. Progress has been made, both in the UK and the US, but there’s still a long way to go. This side of the pond, the one million target is something to be celebrated. Now, it needs to be the catalyst for empowerment to continue well into the next four decades and beyond. Sources https://www.wisecampaign.org.uk/statistics/2019-workforce-statistics-one-million-women-in-stem-in-the-uk/https://www.stemwomen.co.uk/blog/2019/09/women-in-stem-percentages-of-women-in-stem-statistics https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/06/how-melinda-gates-used-computer-science-to-help-solve-this-tech-issue.html https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/10/women-stem-gaining-recognition-feature/ https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2017/03/07/breaking-the-stem-ceiling-for-girls/ https://www.stemwomen.co.uk/blog/2019/08/why-are-female-students-now-outnumbering-males-in-a-level-science https://www.nbcnews.com/know-your-value/feature/5-ways-close-gender-gap-women-stem-ncna1070101 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-47891902 https://www.forbes.com/sites/biancabarratt/2018/11/17/the-need-for-more-women-in-stem-roles-goes-beyond-simple-diversity/#388f2b8b45cb https://dallasinnovates.com/if-then-summit-convenes-nationwide-female-stem-role-models-in-dallas/ https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/uks-stem-skills/60152/ https://feweek.co.uk/2019/05/10/ifa-to-trial-gender-neutral-language-in-bid-to-boost-female-stem-applicants/

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