As a woman who goes to a large university with an abundance of peers who are like me and are looking to enter fields like this, the topic of discussion is heavily important to me for obvious reasons. However, it is also important for the general public to become aware of such under-represenation in such fields because everyone needs to do their fair share of preventing this issue going forward from employers to professors to parents and all the way back to students who will eventually be workers in the STEM industry. Everyone needs to recognize the importance of including more women in these fields in order to make necessary progress occur.
Along with discussing the significance of this topic in itself, I chose to interview Beth Bors from
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She has worked with women who are entering fields all across the STEM spectrum and was able to touch on personal stories from her students along with her own experiences as a woman in the workforce. The leader in her character is displayed as she touches on the powerful emotions she experiences when working with some of the most gifted STEM women that we should expect to make strides in the future. Women such as those she works with at the Douglass Project only have one ceiling to break through. It has nothing to do with their talents and capabilities, but rather everything to do with the negative stigmas in our society. For the sake of these women, speaking to Beth has pushed me to use my voice even more than I ever have before. I also hope to share certain pieces of this interview with a woman who is passionate about science, but maybe doubts her ability to do well in the field based on these stigmas. Overall, having this interview with Beth has strengthened my passion for being an advocate on the solutions needed to combat this …show more content…
For instance, Smith’s Unfriendly Climate (2016) reports on the abuse and skepticism that educated scientist, Katharine Hayhoe, receives based on her unpopular views pertaining to climate change in Texas. This article offers an elaborate overview of the extreme efforts Hayhoe must go through to try and attempt residents of Texas to take the threatening effects of climate change seriously. Despite all of the astounding evidence that Hayhoe presents before Texas congressional members to support her points on climate change, they choose to dismiss her points and falsely claim that Hayhoe is attempting to push her political agenda onto others. This tendency of using someone’s personal background and identity as a motive to dismiss their beliefs is exactly what happens to certain women who try to pursue a career in STEM. Even a highly educated woman has faces trouble when trying to be taken serioisly by others. Imagine what would happen to a young woman who is pursuing a career in STEM, unsure about what the field has to offer. Is it possible she will receive similar treatment? Unfortunately, it is still
The force of societal stereotypes is a large part of this gap. Instead of joining STEM careers, the most common careers among women are secretaries, nurses, and elementary and middle school teachers (Mandell). This truly illustrates that when well-rounded, talented women have the choice, they are inclined to delve into the field in which society expects them to belong. In this way, the stereotype of women not being involved in STEM is forcing less women to be involved in these fields. The deficiency of women in technical fields, despite their well-roundedness and ability, can be directly related to unyielding cultural stereotypes that stigmatize women in supposedly masculine fields.
So you read about the challenges that women are going through. You read the stereotypical aspect about women and the STEM field. Women make up approximately 47% of a hundred of the us work force, they represent only 26 parts of a hundred of people who work in STEM (science, technology, designing and making, or mathematics). further, only 12 parts of a hundred of female college students will person with a degree with an unmarried men degree in science, and just 3 parts of a hundred will go on to work in a STEM field 10 years after becoming a person with a degree. While women make up 47% of the US work force, they represent only 26 % of people who work in STEM according to college raptor.com. Here are some more numbers. Only 12 % of female college students will person with a degree with an unmarried men degree in science, and just 3 % will go on to work in a STEM field 10 years after becoming a person with a degree.
It’s also important to promote gender neutrality that way more women are encouraged to pursue careers in STEM. People of all races and sexes should always be given the same opportunities, but most if not everyone knows that people are too ignorant to see realize that they aren’t being fair. Educating the public in general can help reduce ignorance and raise awareness for this issue.
Many people do argue that we, as humans, have made progress in the equality of women. Yes, there has been progress in integrating women into STEM. There are more women in STEM than there have been in the past. However, the progress has slowed to the point of almost a complete stop. Projections on total equality are not predicted to occur for another 50 years, at the earliest. Women should not have to wait another half a century to have the equality they have been fighting for since the pass of the 19th Amendment. It is not uncommon to find people, male and female, who believe that women are too dainty to be hard workers. STEM jobs are traditionally male associated because of the ‘dirtiness’ or ‘complexity’ or ‘intensity’. People say women
Stereotype threat was first defined by Steele and Arson as the “social-psychological threat that occurs when one is in a situation or doing something for which a negative stereotype about one’s group applies. This predicament threatens one with being negatively stereotyped, with being judged or threatened stereotypically, or with the prospect of conforming to the stereotype” (Steele, 1997, p.614). The biggest stereotype when we talk about STEM fields is “Why so Few [women]?” Then comes the cultural stereotype that boys are innately better than girls at math and sciences, which is inescapable in the U.S. and apparently at the fault. Recent trends in achievements by girls and women compare to their counterparts, as well as years of scientific research, demonstrate that this notion is simply incorrect. Although the number of women still lags behind the number of men in many STEM fields, the reasons for this gap are cultural biases and institutional barriers that hinder the advancement of women.
The U.S. Department of Education recently reported that even though relatively more female high school graduates took advanced STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) courses than male counterparts, their interests in STEM subjects were significantly low regardless of race/ethnicity (U.S. Department of Education, 2015). Furthermore, there are significantly less women who completed STEM degrees compared to men (Lee, Alston, & Kahn, 2015). This gender discrepancy has been the key goal for the researchers for the last decades, and many studies have examined how to promote gender parity in STEM fields.
Since time has begun women as a whole have struggled for equality in many different arenas. There have been laws passed that have made strides such as the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote. Although progress has been great, there are still many other aspects of inequality that can be tended to. One of these being the issues of advancement and underrepresentation of women in STEM-related career fields. These science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers have been mainly dominated by the male sex since the birth of them. Just as when someone speaks of say a construction worker the mind immediately associated a male with this role. This should not be the case for the many STEM careers let alone any other. The imaginary
Throughout the years, males have dominated the academic disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) with very few females finding their way in the mix (Steinberg, Okun, & Aiken, 2012). Those females enrolling in the STEM majors soon find themselves questioning why they have, and many quickly change their majors to more female-accepting professions (Steele, James, & Barnett, 2002). The view that women lack the intellect to succeeded in STEM disciplines has been a prevailing one for much of history (Cadinu, Maass, Rosabianca, & Kiesner, 2005). Many researchers have questioned whether it is social stigma impeding female success or indeed basic biological differences that make males are more successful
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce in STEM related jobs men outnumber women 76% to 24%. Take that versus all non-STEM fields where men only outnumber women by a small margin, 52% and 48% respectively (Women in STEM). By these sheer numbers alone we can see there is a larger gender gap in STEM related fields than in any other professions. This study also details that most of the women in STEM are involved in the natural sciences. This means that there is a severe lack of women in the computer sciences and math, making up just under a quarter of all women in STEM jobs together.
I was raised in an environment where my parents — a physician and a molecular biologist — freely discussed scientific developments, moral questions and current events, encouraging me to have my own opinions. These discussions sparked my fascination for STEM subjects. In school, I have taken the most rigorous courses and have been involved in Science Olympiad since I was eleven, competing in events including Anatomy, Heredity, Disease Detectives, Protein Modeling, and Forensics. My parents supported me as I began to experience gender bias in STEM subjects and inspired me to do my best. This motivated me to become class president and principal flutist in the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. While the environment I grew up in contributed to
The Census Bureau's 2009 American Community Survey displays that women comprise 48 percent of the U.S. workforce but just 24 percent of workers in STEM fields. Half as many women work in STEM jobs as would be expected if gender representation in STEM professions mirrored the overall workforce. This underrepresentation has remained fairly
In a time when ladies are progressively noticeable in solution, law, and business, why are there so couple of ladies researchers and specialists? Studies by Corinne A. Moss-Racusin in his journal “Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students” and Eileen Pollack’s Why Are There Still So Few Women in Science presents convincing confirmation that can clarify this riddle. It presents inside and out yet available profiles of eight key exploration discoveries that point to natural and social hindrances that including generalizations, sexual orientation inclination, and the atmosphere of science and building divisions in schools and colleges that keep on blocking ladies' advancement in STEM. The report additionally incorporates measurements
Until recently, seldom would women venture into the predominately-male field of STEM. Though the number of women in STEM fields has substantially increased, a large gender disparity still exists (especially in computer science, engineering, physical sciences, and mathematics). Furthermore, among those few women who do enter, even fewer enjoy the fame, prestige, and prominence many men do. Many theories exist which attempt to explain the reason for the disparity, ranging from societal causes to psychological causes. Some posit that gender stereotypes may impede women from appearing competent to employers. Additionally, they may cause established members in the field to overlook highly-competent individuals, or even worse, think negatively of them because they do not align with their typical expectations. Psychologically speaking, research has found that women do not gravitate toward STEM fields because they do not feel they are qualified by them. These examples are only a few that exist out in the vast body of research that attempts to explain the gender disparity in STEM fields.
Sophomore year of high school, the Robotics Club sent some of our members to a unique STEM program: one about women in technology. There, I learned there existed a stigma against girls in these fields. At the time, however, my interest in technology was limited to a recreational club. I didn’t see how it applied to me, but I didn’t feel right ignoring something so important just because it didn’t concern me directly.
A hot topic in today’s society is women in the workforce and what we think their place really is. A large sect of the workforce where this problem is prevalent is the field of engineering. Engineering lacks diversity with respect to gender around the world. This problem is of large severity. Within the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, particularly engineering, there is a wide gap between the amount of men and the amount of women working in the field caused by stereotypical, psychological, and educational factors. This gender gap can be alleviated by encouraging girls to get involved or interested in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects at an earlier age, creating more female role models in