STEM has a gender problem. Some fields have it worse than others; women tend to outnumber men in biological fields, for example, but in medicine, engineering, and essentially all areas of tech, men far outnumber women.
Steps must be taken to address this issue. But, as is true with any problem, the key to finding a solution is understanding the problem. Here are a few questions we need to ask about why certain STEM fields lack gender parity and why that matters.
Why Do Girls Avoid STEM?
In some ways, STEM’s gender problem starts with cultural stereotypes that begin as early as birth. For kids, “boy stuff” includes vehicles, dinosaurs, and space, while “girl stuff” features flowers and cuddly animals. Toys traditionally associated with boys often teach early concepts in engineering and physics, while toys for girls focus on compassion and communication. Then, in school, many teachers allow girls to believe they are simply “bad at math” or “uninterested in science,” so women pass through the education system without the fundamental skills required for STEM fields.
Unfortunately, even when some women manage to power through cultural biases and launch careers in STEM, success is not easily attained. Because men dominate STEM fields, female professionals typically do not find these workplaces welcoming or supportive. Women discover toxic work cultures that allow or ignore harassment, or they see the paths to higher levels of employment inaccessible due to preferences for male colleagues. As a result, many women who do break into STEM fields eventually drop out in search of work environments that are more female-friendly.
To solve STEM’s gender problem, we all must do better. Women need to move past stereotypical beliefs about their own abilities and pursue knowledge, skills, and credentials that qualify them for roles in STEM — women can work in AI and other tech fields through a path that takes advantage of strengths outside of math and science. Yet, as importantly, we as a society need to change the ways we raise young girls, shedding our gendered parenting practices and adopting an approach that allows all children to explore all concepts equally.
Additionally, companies in STEM need to start supporting women in technology by revamping their policies and practices for hiring and retaining female workers. Clear and concrete strategies for creating gender equity in the workplace can help organizations develop a healthier and happier environment where men and women can contribute to success.
How Can Women Impact STEM?
We need more women in STEM — and not merely because it is fair. Due to their varying life experiences, women develop different ways of seeing and interacting with the world around them from men who tend to populate STEM fields. The unique perspective of women allows them to notice problems that men might miss or to think of solutions that men wouldn’t conceive. Diverse perspectives drive innovation, and innovation is the beating heart of progress and success in virtually all STEM fields.
Innovation can take many forms. Certainly, women can contribute to the creation of new technologies or other scientific discoveries that offer abundant value. Some of the most celebrated stories of women in STEM involve this type of achievement — think of historic innovators like Ada Lovelace or Marie Curie, as well as living legends like Mae Jemison and Radia Perlman.
However, women can make a difference in STEM fields in other ways. Women skilled in administration can help businesses grow — as Sheryl Sandberg did with Google and Facebook (now Meta). Women can also assist with project management, helping to organize resources and accomplish goals with greater ease and efficiency. At the very least, the presence of women in STEM workplaces helps create labor parity that female workers need and deserve, which can pave the way for greater contributions from women in the future.
What Is the Future of Women in STEM?
No one can know the future, not even experts in fields like temporal physics or predictive AI. Still, things are looking up for women interested in entering the STEM workforce. Between 2011 and 2021, the number of women in STEM increased 31%, compared to an increase of just 15% among men. Perhaps lured by the higher potential earnings or perhaps enchanted by the rare opportunity to innovate meaningfully, more women are being drawn to STEM and remaining in their chosen fields for much of their careers.
Unfortunately, change is slow. At the current rate, it could be decades — or even more than a century — before STEM companies achieve true gender parity. To drive the next wave of technological innovation, and to create a more just and equal world, we all need to work harder to make STEM a safe, welcoming place for women workers.
