Why Engineering And Technology ( E & T ) Industries Have Such A Low Representation Of Women

Science, technology, engineering, and math are the four areas of study that make up STEM. These four areas all have one thing in common: they are all dominated by men. According to Lauren C. Williams, “men outnumber women 7 to 3 in tech jobs in New York City — and nationwide.”.7 Despite this, “women now earn more bachelor’s and master’s degrees than men”.6 However, “women are a minority”.2 Women are a minority in all STEM careers. The ratio of men to women in scientific fields has never been one to one. For some unknown reason very few women are choosing to become chemists, physicists, engineers, computer technicians, or mathematicians. There are many proposed theories for why women are extremely outnumbered in these scientific

Education seems to be a major factor in what determines starting wages in a person’s career. Women in the past were less inclined to have degrees in science and technology as opposed to their male counterparts. Careers in science and technology are in high demand because we are living in a rapidly evolving technological era. Though the number of women entering the science and technology field is increasing, there is still not enough women to make up for the mass majority of men having more of these high-paying jobs, thus, creating an overall salary differential. Naadiya Moosajee, co-founder of WomENG, recognizes the change from women who were once only users of technology to a time where they are now developers and creators of it. This will make great strides in closing the pay gap between men and women. There is much room for improvement that needs to be made with the lack of education among women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to deplete the inequalities with earnings (Moosajee 27). In addition to that, technology fields in particular have not been very favorable to women given that it represents females so sparingly. In “The Need for Gender Diversity in Technology”, Holly Grogan expresses technology jobs are not very appealing to women and have very small numbers of prominent women

51 percent of the United States is female but only 34.4 percent of doctors are women. While 90.4 percent of nurses are female (“Women in Medicine”; “Male Nurses Becoming”), the women who do become doctors earn an astounding 25 percent less than their male counterparts (Groves). These staggering figures are only a single piece in the larger overall lack of women in STEM, or science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, which has remained prevalent since the beginning of these fields. Although women are underrepresented in these STEM fields, this is not due to ineptitude, but instead it is a result of the force of societal stereotypes coupled with their wider range of abilities. The recent increase in women’s association with STEM seems

In a speech in February 2013 President Barak Obama said, “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.” It been three years since President Obama has made that statement and the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering and math as known as STEM majors is still a big problem today. The STEM workforce is crucial to Americas global competitiveness and groundbreaking capability. The people who work in the STEM field make up nearly half of the United

While this bill undoubtedly aligned with the mission and purpose of women’s colleges, there remains an unbalanced amount of representation of women in STEM programs and careers. “Globally, women remain particularly behind in participation at elite institutions and in traditional ‘male’ fields of study including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM” (Renn, 2014, p. 3). While the very existence of women’s colleges asserts their right to belong within realms of higher education, the work towards equity and inclusion must take place in all facets of life. “Even where women outnumber men in undergraduate enrollments and enjoy full access to higher education, women’s institutions act symbolically to remind society that in many other domains of public and private life, gender equality remains elusive” (Renn, 2014, p. 125).

Be it sexism that clings on from past generations or implicit biases that hold our society’s progression back without us even realizing, women have a harder time joining and continuing down a scientific path then men. Though women have outnumbered men in college attendance for the past 35 years, the current numbers give 57% attendance vs men making up 43% of attendance, women are disproportionately represented in scientific majors. In physics only 1/5 of the PHDs awarded at year end are given to women, half being an american citizen, while only 14% of physics professors are female. In engineering a large 40% of women who earn degrees in the field subsequently quit or never enter an engineering related job. What is troublesome about these statistics do not clue to physic walls that need to be torn down to free women to their choices but the individual mental walls, the stereotypes that we knowingly hold onto, the biases we pertain to, the faults of our society that we need to address to stop another eager women from becoming apart of another negative

Since the beginning, men have ruled the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Which explains the huge gender gap in STEM jobs. As of 2009, women occupied 24% of STEM jobs. Many of these women work in the science field. Only about 12% of women occupy the engineering and computer science field.

Flores also points out that “men’s earnings at the six-year mark are approximately $4,000 higher per year than women’s at 10 years.” Mark Perry of AEIdeas says, “for the eighth year in a row, women earned a majority of doctoral degrees awarded at US universities in 2016.” Women earning a Master’s degree outnumbered the men in 7 out of 11 “fields of graduate study and in some of those fields the gender disparity was huge” (Perry). Further, women are choosing fields of study that were previously dominated by men. Payscale reports that when women begin to move careers into previously male dominated fields, the average pay drops. Again, confirming that women’s work is

Andresse St. Rose, Christianne Corbett, and Catherine Hill, are actively involved in the field of female studies in education and researchers for The American Association of University Women. In their 2010 book titled Why so Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, the first chapter is the book’s namesake and contains a wide depth of information, from statistics regarding a smaller female presence in STEM careers, differences across gender in students pursuing STEM related AP courses, and a comparison of the gender divide in earlier years with the present time.

One area where structural sexism exists and has an impact on women today is in education. Until recently, approximately the same number of male and females were graduating high school and earning college degrees. However, that trend has been gradually changing. More women are now enrolling into colleges and universities and many women have higher educations than that of their husbands. The structural sexism component does not stem so much from the levels of education between men and women, but more about what career fields and professions women are continuing to pursue. Men still far outnumber women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) professions. According to Understanding Social Problems, “reasons for the STEM gender

Science is the study wherein hypotheses are tested and logic is built upon facts and objectivity. With this in mind it would seem obvious that the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM) fields should be the first fields of study to discard outdated stereotypes and embrace a new, largely untapped resource of professionals—women. However, research would indicate this is not the case, and that the situation is actually quite the opposite. It is often stated that women are underrepresented in STEM fields due to a “gender bias”, however, it is important to verify common knowledge statements such as this one to discover if they are true. Through the study of five peer reviewed, psychological studies, the conclusion that can

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.

“According to the American Association of University Women, the key figure to know is that American women on average make 79 cents for every dollar a man earns. Latina women get 54 percent of what every white man makes; that figure is 63 percent for black women” (Kulwin). Not surprisingly we can see how the impact of gender and race on education puts huge barriers up for women to succeed when studying subjects in STEM which as a result limits their access to the higher paying

Women have come a long way since society suppressed and undermined the rights for women to obtain a job and education. It was not until the 1920s that women had the right to vote, and it was not until later that women had the opportunity of employment and earn equal pay as men. The battle that women have faced and are still facing today has allowed them to obtain an education and acquire careers alongside men. Although granted these opportunities, women still face problems and are underrepresented in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields currently. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics (2011), only 34% of women are employed as physicians and surgeons and 14% are architects and engineers. However,

areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics employers are not getting enough women (Pozniak). High school girls only represent 17 percent of computer science Advance Placement (AP) test takers (O'Shea). The most significant group of minorities who are behind in earning computer technology degrees and working in science and mathematical professions are women. “Historically, women’s low representation in science and engineering was said to be due in large part of their lack of ability, interest, or both” (Horning 30). However, this is no longer a true fact according to Ward. Some suggestions to increasing the amount of women in sciences include introducing already present women faculty as mentors. Over the last three decades,