{"id":14605,"date":"2020-07-08T12:09:44","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T19:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/?p=14605"},"modified":"2023-11-15T08:55:38","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T16:55:38","slug":"women-in-stem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/career-advice\/women-in-stem\/","title":{"rendered":"Women in STEM Fields: Everything You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It\u2019s no secret that STEM professions, shaped by years of gender and racial bias and discrimination, lack diversity. Despite accounting for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.catalyst.org\/research\/women-in-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-stem\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more than half of all graduates<\/a> from biomedical sciences university programs, around 40% of all physical sciences and technologies courses, and a third of all computer science masters\u2019 programs, only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/library\/stories\/2021\/01\/women-making-gains-in-stem-occupations-but-still-underrepresented.html#:~:text=Women%20Make%20Gains%20in%20Some,up%2048%25%20of%20all%20workers.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">27% of STEM jobs<\/a> and engineering occupations in the United States are held by women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But progress, although slow, is being made. Companies are waking up to the fact that lacking diversity doesn\u2019t just look bad, it adversely affects the bottom line. When STEM occupations don\u2019t include women at all levels, algorithms can skew toward the biases of the dominant group, interpretations of data insights don\u2019t have the benefit of different points of view, and companies building products and services for everyone end up with glaring blind spots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a quest for diversity and inclusion, organizations and industry leaders are addressing the gender disparity in the engineering workforce by bolstering STEM education enrollment among historically underrepresented groups, overhauling outdated hiring and recruitment practices that have created barriers to entry for women, and creating opportunities, resources, and support networks for female students and scientists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether it\u2019s software engineering, data science, machine learning research, or UX\/UI design, women in STEM fields are finally beginning to see institutional as well as grassroots support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t forget to check out our pages on women in different STEM careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/software-engineering\/women-in-coding\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/software-engineering\/women-in-coding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Women in Software Engineering<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/data-science\/women-in-data-science\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/data-science\/women-in-data-science\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Women in Data Science<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/data-science\/women-in-machine-learning\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/data-science\/women-in-machine-learning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Women in Machine Learning<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/design\/women-in-ux-design\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/design\/women-in-ux-design\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Women in UX\/UI Design<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Women are making meaningful headway in STEM fields. Read on to learn more about the challenges women are overcoming and the opportunities that are helping close the gender gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Are Women Underrepresented in STEM Fields?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Several factors stand in the way of gender equality in STEM fields. Below are a number of key research-backed findings on the ways women continue to be held back from entering, staying, and advancing in STEM professions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Lack of female role models.<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/4132808?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Studies have shown<\/a> that women role models can empower and inspire women to stay in the workforce and pursue more advanced roles. In one particular <a href=\"https:\/\/www.invisionapp.com\/inside-design\/hurdles-women-design-industry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">study<\/a>, researchers found that female students were more likely to major in STEM if they were assigned a woman professor and that junior-level employees were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.invisionapp.com\/inside-design\/hurdles-women-design-industry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more likely to stay with an organization<\/a> if they had women supervisors. A lack of female role models can deter young girls from considering careers in STEM, and signal that the field isn\u2019t for them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lack of transparency.<\/strong> The gender pay gap in tech can range from 5-10%, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/view-from-the-valley\/at-work\/tech-careers\/women-in-tech-face-increased-wage-discrimination\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hired<\/a>, and the frustration of not knowing where they stand or how much they should be asking for is one of the reasons women in STEM feel disempowered. The lack of transparency around salary negotiations and criteria for promotions can also hold women back from applying for certain roles, advocating for themselves, and affect their confidence and sense of belonging.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lack of flexibility\/support.<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techrepublic.com\/article\/why-more-than-half-of-women-leave-the-tech-industry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Work-life flexibility<\/a> plays a big role in whether women decide to stay in the workforce. \u201cTime and time again, studies show that flexibility draws more women, and retains them, in the workplace,\u201d according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/manondefelice\/2018\/05\/17\/want-more-women-in-tech-jobs-create-a-culture-of-flexibility-entrepreneurship\/?sh=3defef0c3f88\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Manon DeFelice<\/a>, founder of Inkwell. \u201cIn a Pew Survey, 70% of women with families said that having a flexible work schedule was extremely important to them. The inverse is also true: Where flexibility is lacking, so too are highly accomplished women.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Poor messaging.<\/strong> \u201cSociety keeps telling us that STEM fields are masculine fields, and that we need to increase the participation of women in STEM fields,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/news\/2017\/08\/29\/study-says-multiple-factors-work-together-drive-women-away-stem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Adriana Kugler, a professor at Georgetown\u2019s McCourt School of Public Policy<\/a>. \u201cBut that kind of sends a signal that it\u2019s not a field for women, and it kind of works against keeping women in these fields.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Women in STEM Statistics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While the number of men far outnumber the number of women in STEM occupations, the stats have gradually improved in recent years. Below are the latest figures from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aauw.org\/resources\/research\/the-stem-gap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Percentage of women in STEM fields:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Biological Sciences \u2014 47.7%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chemists and Material Science \u2014 42.5%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Computer and Mathematics occupations \u2014 25.8%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Engineers and Architects \u2014 15.7%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.builtbyme.com\/statistics-facts-women-in-stem\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Board members of information and technology companies<\/a> \u2014 12.2%<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/library\/static\/831d2047a444507ccf1e5296c52fdbed\/63135\/women-in-stem.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/library\/static\/831d2047a444507ccf1e5296c52fdbed\/4b190\/women-in-stem.jpg\" alt=\"Women in STEM\" title=\"Women in STEM\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Can We Get More Women in STEM Fields?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Many of the challenges that stand in the way of women building long and satisfying careers in STEM are systemic and have proven difficult for organizations to dismantle. But researchers have identified several strategies that can have an immediate and meaningful impact on the working lives of women in STEM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>More mentorship and support.<\/strong> Mentors are a crucial part of career development because of the insight, guidance, and support they provide. While male students and men in the technical workforce have historically had plenty of mentors to choose from, women have tended to have less access to women role models and mentorship opportunities. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/women-in-ux-an-industry-insight\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mentors of all stripes play a valuable role<\/a> in advocating for women, sharing knowledge, and carving out space for newcomers to be heard. Mentors can also <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.techinclusion.co\/gender-diversity-in-design-leadership-there-are-more-female-than-male-ux-designers-in-the-world-c9f65c68ef1b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">influence an organization\u2019s culture<\/a>, ensuring that workplaces are safe, welcoming, and nurturing to women engineers, designers, and scientists.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>More supportive workplaces.<\/strong> A supportive workplace can mean many things, but research has found that companies that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techrepublic.com\/article\/why-more-than-half-of-women-leave-the-tech-industry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">prioritize work\/life flexibility<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/features.crosscut.com\/can-a-tech-career-and-family-life-coexist-\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">offer parental leave<\/a>, are <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/view-from-the-valley\/at-work\/tech-careers\/women-in-tech-face-increased-wage-discrimination\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">transparent<\/a> about salaries and promotions, and address their male-dominated, exclusionary cultures have greater success at attracting women employees and preventing attrition.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Getting an image makeover.<\/strong> STEM professions suffer from a slew of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aauw.org\/resources\/research\/the-stem-gap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">negative stereotypes<\/a>\u2014specifically that they\u2019re masculine and that women don\u2019t excel at STEM subjects. \u201cThe myth of the math brain is one of the most self-destructive ideas in American education,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aauw.org\/resources\/research\/the-stem-gap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according to the American Association of University Women<\/a>. \u201cResearch shows no innate cognitive biological differences between men and women in math.\u201d Yet, the gender stereotypes persist, resulting in many girls losing confidence in math by third grade. To address this, the AAUW recommends raising public awareness of the ungendered nature of STEM so that parents can encourage their daughters as much as their sons into math and science.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For those considering careers in STEM but are intimidated or feel like they might not find their footing, women currently working in STEM have the following advice:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe biggest piece of advice I have for anyone is to ask for help,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/data-science\/women-in-data-science\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/data-science\/women-in-data-science\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Emily Bailey<\/a>, a data scientist at Uber. \u201cWhen you have a goal in front of you, it can be daunting to see how big it is, so the first place I tend to ask for help is: how do I break this up into smaller pieces? And then, even if the first piece is hard, you can ask for help every step of the way if you need to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEvery software engineer struggles a lot, even if they don\u2019t show it,\u201d Anna Carey, a software engineer at Artsy said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/betterprogramming.pub\/why-women-dont-pursue-software-engineering-17d0dead24e9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">blog post<\/a>. \u201cIf I could shake my 18-year-old self, full of self-doubt and about to give up on computer science for what she thought would be forever, I would tell her: You have everything you need to make it as an engineer if you\u2019re ready to persist when you feel lost and become really good at Google.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Scholarships for Women in STEM<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A growing number of organizations have thrown their support behind achieving gender diversity and parity in STEM, namely through offering scholarships, fellowships, grants, and outreach programs. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nitrocollege.com\/blog\/ultimate-guide-stem-scholarships\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Higher education STEM scholarships<\/a> in fields such as mathematics, computer science, statistics, biology, physics, chemistry, engineering, and data science are available for those pursuing undergraduate degrees, master\u2019s degrees, and doctorate degrees. There are also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pathwaystoscience.org\/undergrads.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">paid internship programs<\/a> that support young women and other newcomers who are entering the STEM workforce and require additional professional workplace support and hands-on experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the online courses\/bootcamp front, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/news\/springboard-women-who-code-scholarships\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/news\/springboard-women-who-code-scholarships\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Springboard has partnered with Women Who Code<\/a> to offer ten scholarships worth $1,000 each to women who enroll in Springboard\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/courses\/data-science-career-track\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Data Science Career Track<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/courses\/software-engineering-career-track\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Software Engineering Career Track<\/a>, or the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/courses\/ai-machine-learning-career-track\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Machine Learning Career Track<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Women in STEM by Country<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Women in the United States made up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/library\/stories\/2021\/01\/women-making-gains-in-stem-occupations-but-still-underrepresented.html#:~:text=Women%20Make%20Gains%20in%20Some,up%2048%25%20of%20all%20workers.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">27% of the STEM workforce<\/a> in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is how the U.S. compares to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.women-in-technology.com\/wintec-blog\/women-in-tech-by-country\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">other countries<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Australia &#8211; 27%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bulgaria &#8211; 30%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Canada &#8211; 25%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>France &#8211; 18%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ireland &#8211; 19%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Japan &#8211; 13%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Latvia &#8211; 25%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Netherlands &#8211; 16%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>New Zealand &#8211; 17%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Romania &#8211; 26%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Turkey &#8211; 10%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>United Kingdom &#8211; 16%<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"rm has-background\" style=\"background-color:#efeff6\"><strong>Since you&#8217;re here<br><\/strong>If you want to work in design, you can. It\u2019s that simple. With our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/courses\/ux-career-track\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">UX Bootcamp<\/a>, we&#8217;ll help you launch your design career in 9 months or less. Browse our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/resources\/guides\/ux-design-salaries\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">free UX salary guide<\/a> to see what you could be making<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s no secret that STEM professions, shaped by years of gender and racial bias and discrimination, lack diversity. Despite accounting for more than half of all graduates from biomedical sciences university programs, around 40% of all physical sciences and technologies courses, and a third of all computer science masters\u2019 programs, only 27% of STEM jobs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":18763,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","_eb_data_table":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[],"marketing_tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14605","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-career-advice"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14605"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14605"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51047,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14605\/revisions\/51047"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14605"},{"taxonomy":"marketing_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/marketing_tags?post=14605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}