It is uncommon to see a female computer scientist or a female aerospace engineer and for many reasons, the idea of STEM is not introduced to women as early as it is to men. Women are not as confident in their abilities so entering a difficult field of science, technology, engineering, or math can be deterred by their self confidence. Although female engineers and scientists do exist, it is not the norm and many women in STEM fields are considered as rare as a unicorn. Non Profit organizations like Girls Who Code encourage young girls to participate in STEM subjects in efforts to fix the men to women ratio. Political ideologies such as feminism can help with the participation of females in STEM occupations since “a key tenet of modern feminism is that women will have achieved equity only when they fill at least 50% of the positions once filled by men” affirmed by Susan Pinker of The Wall Street Journal. Twenty years from now, gender expectations and roles will become increasingly liberal causing female participation in STEM occupations to increase.
American culture happens to introduce STEM subjects to men earlier than women. Most women grow up with a cooking set instead of a Star Wars LEGO set. This is a strange phenomenon considering the majority of celebrity chefs are male and those that are female specialize in less technical foods. Rachel Ray is known for her easy recipes of Pasta Carbonara and One Pan Pork Chops, dishes that are stereotypically made by mothers and wives for their families. Male chefs like the notorious Gordon Ramsay is known for technical dishes like Beef Wellington and homemade Lobster Ravioli, dishes that are usually served in five star restaurants and judged on cooking shows. Even within the stereotypically female characteristic of cooking men are technically and financially dominating women. The skill that a cooking set offers a young girl is purposeless compared to the technical difficulty of a LEGO set that is offered to young boys. As children mature and enter elementary school one can see the stark difference in how girls and boys are raised.
The confidence of women decreases as they age and it begins in elementary school. Girls are taught not to rough house unlike boys so they resort to sitting in a circle and gossiping which causes them to “suffer a larger decrease in self-esteem” than boys (Shipman, Katty Kay and Claire). Girls spend time judging their friends and talking about themselves instead of playing collaborative sports which is what puts this idea of perfection into girls’ heads. If their friend is talking about how her blonde hair looks like dead grass the young girl is going to grow up with insecurities about their hair color. Hair color should be the least of a young girls problems but little things like this only get more heavily scrutinized as girls age. In high school their sexual activity is scrutinized so if a girl has already lost her virginity by her sophomore year while her other friends have not she is considered a slut. In high school boys are praised and sought after if they have had any sexual experience and the more partners the better. Women have grown up to constantly be thinking about perfection which causes girls to lose confidence in their abilities. This decrease in confidence follows young women into the classroom where they become timid about learning new ideas, especially intimidating ideas concerning STEM. The boys however have grown up competing in team sports boosting their confidence level which makes them eager and self assured in their academic abilities. So when STEM is introduced in a classroom they jump for the opportunity to immerse themselves in a new subject and advance through STEM earlier than girls. As girls grow up and find their own self confidence they begin to find their way into STEM majors and occupations. A stigma arises when women enter a field of STEM due to the majority of men dominating the fields.
This stigma surrounding women in STEM concerns their intellectual reputability. Eve Forster of Vox has a job in a STEM field and deals with the idea that her femininity limits intellectual conversation with her peers. One example of men underestimating a woman's intelligence based on the fact that they are female is “mansplaining” (Forster). Women will often encounter men who mansplain which is a colloquial term that is used to describe “when a person, often but not always a man, explains something in a condescending manner to someone they assume is less knowledgeable” and is a normal occurrence for women in a male dominated field (Forster). Currently women have made strides in becoming more educated than men but not in the subjects of STEM.
The majority of universities are made up of women and women are “more likely than men to go to college: in 2010, 55 percent of all college graduates ages 25 to 29 were female” putting women in the overall majority (Bolick). Even though women have the majority they tend to pursue education in the Liberal Arts rather than STEM in other words women often take lesser paying jobs. A sociology major makes a salary of forty thousand dollars out of college whereas a computer science major salary almost doubles at seventy thousand dollars (Smith). One of the reasons for this is women tend to pursue careers that are emotionally fulfilling to them. Even women in powerful positions like a corporate CEO are employed from nonprofit organizations and one explanation for this is “‘in general terms, you tend to see women executives more toward mission-oriented organizations’” adds the authors of The Confidence Gap. The percentage of women that do become successful in STEM careers are observed to have a lower retention rate than men with the same job.
In the past “women often were forced to choose between an education and a husband” and the disappearance of this dilemma has increased the participation of women in technical fields (Coontz). Women are still sensitive to jobs that affect their ability to succeed intellectually and succeed in a relationship. A study titled What's So Special about STEM? A Comparison of Women’s Retention in STEM and Professional Occupations explains that women care more about changes in residential environments, long work hours, and parenthood than men do which are things every person in a STEM occupation has to face. Women tend to be more sensitive to work constraints that hinder their personal life for example, if a woman expected to have a large family but also had a job in STEM it is more inevitable for the woman to exit her job than to stay. The study also observes that women in STEM are more successful if their significant other is also employed in a STEM profession as it offers them support for their career instead of their significant other having to compete for relational time (Glass et al., 2013). Women in other professional occupations like education are offered more flexible hours and given better parameters to accomplish personal goals like raising a family. One solution to raise the retention rate of women in STEM is to offer optimized benefits that encourage and enable personal ambitions such as employers offering parental leave and more flexible hours. Women would no longer be unfairly compensated and would remain in their careers longer. Considering all of the obstacles women overcome in order to succeed in a male dominated subject of either science, technology, engineering, or math women are still making strides to remove these obstacles for future generations.
Contemporary women more often than not are becoming increasingly confident in their abilities especially living in an era where feminist movements are at an all time high. Figures such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Beyonce Knowles, and Malala Yousafzai have brought feminist ideals to a forefront and are some of the most influential leaders in today’s culture. They are not leaders in STEM specifically but they have impacted a woman’s confidence which is a key component of women participating in STEM. Ruth Bader Ginsburg has made strides in women’s equality in the United States. She began the Women's Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union and argued six cases that fought against gender discrimination and won five of them. She currently serves as a justice on the Supreme Court and fights for women’s rights on all kinds of issues from abortion to equal pay. Her advocacy for women has made continuous legislative change and she remains a leader for women aspiring to make political change. Beyoncé Knowles is not a self proclaimed feminist but she is an advocate for equality of the sexes. In an interview with The Independent Beyoncé explains her ideas of who a feminist is stating “if you are a man who believes your daughter should have the same opportunities and rights as your son, you’re a feminist” and highlights the importance of being aware of double standards in the world (Blair). Her music serves to empower women and her latest album titled Lemonade tackled infidelity, a reality women have to deal with frequently. Infidelity in relationships affects women’s self confidence and in Beyoncé’s music she is unapologetically ruthless and demands respect. She has impacted the way society views a strong willed female and made powerful women the new norm. Malala Yousafzai is a young feminist that advocates for the education of young women. After being shot in the face by the Taliban just for pursuing education in her pakistani village, Yousafzai began a mission on bettering education of women. After being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize she has spoken with the Queen of England, President Obama, and spoke in front of the UN about human rights and women's education. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Beyonce Knowles, and Malala Yousafzai have brought feminist ideas to a forefront and apart of popular culture which in turn will strengthen women’s confidence in working in male dominated occupational fields like STEM.
In regards to the future the participation and retention of women in STEM is going to increase. As argued in The Confidence Gap the lack of self confidence women have limits their ability to succeed in male dominated fields of occupations. Feminist ideas instilled into popular culture are strengthening the confidence on women today and will only continue to strengthen women’s confidence in the future. This improvement in confidence will enable women to take the risks and action to succeed and pursue education and careers in STEM. Feminism also puts forth liberal gender expectations which benefits women in male dominated workplace. Liberal gender expectations support the idea of switch gender roles for example it is encouraged for a woman to make more money than their male partner. Conservative gender expectations support the idea that the man in the relationship is the breadwinner, provider, and protector. In contrast women are to be the homemakers and caretakers because of their physical responsibility of producing children. When liberal gender roles are instilled it empowers women and inevitably removes the stigma of women in STEM. Programs such as Girls Who Code encourage girls at an early age to pursue education in STEM and tackles the issue of boys being introduced to STEM subjects before girls. Programs that empower young women tackle the issue of women in male dominated films at the root. As the stigma of women in STEM occupations lessens and the culture of smart and independent women is normalized, so the number of women in STEM will continually increase.
Works Cited
Blair, Olivia. “Beyoncé Explains Why She Performed in Front of the Word 'Feminist'.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 5 Apr. 2016, www.independent.co.uk/news/people/beyonce-explains-performed-in-front-of-the-word-feminist-flawless-formation-a6970256.html.
Bolick, Kate. "All the Single Ladies." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 19 Feb. 2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2018.
Coontz, Stephanie. "The M.R.S. and the Ph.D." The New York Times. The New York Times, 11 Feb. 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2018.
Forster, Eve. ""As a Woman in Science, I Need to Conceal My Femininity to Be Taken Seriously"." Vox. Vox, 04 May 2017. Web. 14 Apr. 2018.
Glass, Jennifer L., Sharon Sassler, Yael Levitte, and Katherine M. Michelmore. "What's So Special about STEM? A Comparison of Women’s Retention in STEM and Professional Occupations." Social Forces; a Scientific Medium of Social Study and Interpretation. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2018.
Pinker, Susan. "Why Aren't There More Women in Science and Technology?" The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 01 Mar. 2018. Web. 13 Apr. 2018.
Shipman, Katty Kay and Claire. "The Confidence Gap." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 26 Aug. 2015. Web. 13 Apr. 2018.
Smith, Jacquelyn. "25 College Majors with the Highest Starting Salaries." Business Insider. Business Insider, 20 Sept. 2016. Web. 16 Apr. 2018.