STEM fields are becoming increasingly important, but the number of women in them is still lacking. There are various reasons for this gender gap – culture and education are shaping our interests and abilities. But the good news is we can change that! Let’s talk how to do that and why it’s important
Rise and importance of the STEM fields
We already talked about the importance of STEM extensively, but let’s quickly recap why is this area so important. There is a growing demand for workers educated in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. As more and more current jobs become automated, new opportunities arise and most of them are rooted in STEM. Jobs are also becoming increasingly interconnected. Modern worker, no matter the position, must possess some technical skills, be able to think critically, test hypothesis and present conclusions clearly. And those skills are developed by the STEM education.
We need to interest more children in STEM, that’s obvious. But we desperately need to interest more girls in STEM. Why target the girls specifically?
Representation of the women in STEM
A huge amount of research points to the fact that women are far less likely to pursue STEM careers. This is something that persists in many different cultures and at all levels of education but becomes more prominent as the education level rises.
Although the women make half of the world’s population, UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) estimates that women make up just 28 percent of scientific researchers worldwide.
We frequently hear about the gender pay gap and this kind of data can help explain it. STEM jobs demand highly skilled workers and since there is a shortage of them, they are mostly very well paid. If women are underrepresented in those types of jobs, they are left with jobs that pay significantly less. With STEM jobs on the rise, that gap will become even wider.
Explanations for the gender gap in STEM
So, there are undoubtedly gender differences in the decision to pursue STEM career. But when and why do they occur?
Boys and girls show some differences in cognitive abilities, for example, there are consistent findings that boys have the much higher level of performance in three major spatial tasks which include spatial visualization, spatial perception, and mental rotation, while girls achieve better results in a number of verbal tasks.
Those differences, not so large at the toddler stage, get more pronounced as children grow due to the exposure to the certain activities and influences.
There are a number of factors that are influencing the low participation of girls and women in STEM. Let’s discuss some of them.
Sociocultural factors
Sociocultural factors shape our beliefs on what is expected from a member of a certain gender. We buy our girls dolls and our boys building block. Girls are encouraged to be caring and polite, boys to be assertive and curious. Even if we don’t raise our children that way, they will quickly conform to those stereotypes in kindergarten or school because there are subtle rewards and punishments for behaving a certain way.
In the same way, some interests, and later professions are considered more “appropriate” for boys and other for girls.
And of course, the way we represent women in media influences how they think and feel about themselves and their achievements. What kind of women do we promote as successful?
There are many great female scientists, programmers, researchers, engineers, mathematicians…Would you be able to mention ten of them? Don’t feel bad if you wouldn’t, our society just don’t promote them as much as they deserve. But those are the role models we want and need for our girls and there is increasing awareness of that.
Encouraging our children to pursue certain activities has a big impact on their abilities and further interests. For example, playing with blocks and similar creative toys is a big factor in developing spatial abilities, very important for advanced math and engineering courses.
Education
School system is another big influencer. The way we teach certain subjects and interact with the students are in many ways gender biased. When girls are performing well in math or science, they are “hardworking”, while boys are doing fine despite they are “lazy”, which is mostly attributed to their intelligence, natural ability. That, at some age, begins to seriously affect self-confidence in our ability to perform well in areas that require more “intelligence”. And our interests are mostly based on the things we are good at. If we feel we are bad at math, we probably won’t go doing math for fun. But we also won’t do robotics or physics, because we are just not “good at math” and all those things are based on math. We will miss so much.
Actually, whatever the natural ability, we should encourage our children to work hard. Having growth mindset is the best predictor of success in both school and life in general and that confidence that we can learn anything if we dedicate time and effort is a powerful motivator for coping with challenges. Research shows that girls are much more likely to develop the fixed mindset, belief that they are stuck with the certain level of ability they can’t improve upon. Around 7th grade, that leads to underperformance in math and science, and further avoidance of those subjects. Boys, on the other hand, are more prone to experimenting and believing in their capabilities to improve.
Educators are getting more aware of these gender differences as well as the importance of nurturing growth mindset and hopefully that will change our school system for the better.
5 Ways how to encourage girls for STEM careers
1. Expose girls to the STEM activities
Give your little girl building blocks, let her play Minecraft, do scientific experiments, explore robotics…There are so many options! That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy her dolls or read with her! Diversity is the key here. Exposing her to many different activities is the only way to see what really interests her.
2. Encourage participation in community programs
Check if there are any STEM programs in your community, like robotics or programming for kids or science labs. Encourage your child to join and talk to her about interesting ideas she hears.
3. Use role models
Talk with your child about important women in the history of STEM and about their achievements. Encourage her to admire persistence and hard work. Be role model yourself! Show the importance of a lifelong learning and a growth mindset.
4. Take advantage of online resources
There are many online resources that are helping with STEM education and some that especially encourage young girls for STEM careers. Khan Academy and Code.org are amazing resources that can supplement any curriculum. Organizations like Girls Who Code provide opportunities for connecting with other girls who are interested in STEM.
5. Teach differently
Teach your child about the growth mindset, she can learn anything with persistence and hard work. Teach her not to fear failure, but to embrace the challenge. Try different methods, maybe she likes to draw concepts or learn by doing or understand things deeply. Try to talk with her teachers about stuff that works best.
Famous women in STEM
Let’s talk about some of those elusive women in STEM and their achievements.
We must mention Marie Curie, the only women in history to win two Nobel Prizes for her contributions to science. She is famous for her work in chemistry – she discovered two elements: polonium and radium and first explored the concept of radioactivity.
Ada Lovelace is considered the first computer programmer. She was a mathematician and writer who, in 19. century, wrote the first algorithm for theoretical general purpose computer.
Grace Murray Hopper – inventer of the first Compiler
Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper was one of the most important figures in computer science. She wrote a first compiler, the translator from human-readable language to machine language and developed first general purpose computer language COBOL.
Edith Clarke was inventor and engineer at the turn of 20.century. She worked as a “the computer,” someone who performed difficult mathematical calculations before modern-day computers and calculators were invented. She was the first woman working officially as an electrical engineer.
There are many others important women in STEM, but we will leave you to do some exploration on your own. That could also be an interesting project for children that can lead to an important discussion about gender differences and representation of women in media.
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