Women in STEM fields

Women are taught from an early age that they are “less than” men, and many women face challenges in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields as these careers are dominated by men. There is a shortage of female mentors for women in STEM occupations, a large gap in wages between genders, a lack of acceptance from male coworkers and supervisors, and gender bias and stereotypes. All of these challenges block women’s progress and participation in STEM fields.

There are some solutions to these challenges that women in STEM fields face. For example, if you have trouble finding a mentor within your career, there are many large organizations just for women, such as Society of Women Engineers, Association for Women in Science, and Association for Women in Mathematics that offer networking and mentoring opportunities.

A career in STEM is a great choice for women, despite the challenges they may have to deal with. A study from 2009 shows that the gender share of all jobs is 52% men and 48% women, but when focused on only STEM careers, the figure changes to 76% men and 24% women. Clearly, women are underrepresented in these fields, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t an excellent career choice for women. Many companies want to hire and keep qualified women in STEM jobs and make special efforts to recruit women. Studies have shown that more diversity in the workplace allow different perspectives on ideas, and often lead to improved efficiency. Women who are interested in STEM careers are valuable and should look into pursuing that as a career, which is why I am in the process of creating a STEM club at my high school and forming a local chapter of Mu Alpha Theta (a math honors society). I hope to expose my fellow pre-collegiate students to STEM careers. I know many of my peers that are interested in the field of engineering, but do not know the different types of engineering or what each discipline of engineering does. I think that forming these clubs will help my fellow classmates choose the right STEM career for them. I also hope that these STEM-focused clubs I am creating will encourage more women to consider a career in STEM and will consequently narrow the gender gap. I also encourage anyone interested in a STEM field to join any related clubs at their school, and if there is none, then grab some of your friends and form some STEM clubs!

For those reading that are women in STEM careers, what is your experience at work like? Is there anything you would like to add? Also, how many of you (males and females) are interested/ are currently in STEM careers? If so, comment down below!

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“One of the things that I really strongly believe in is that we need to have more girls interested in math, science, and engineering. We’ve got half the population that is way underrepresented in those fields and that means that we’ve got a whole bunch of talent…not being encouraged the way they need to.”

-- President Barack Obama, February 2013

#STEM #Women #genderinequality #feminism