For years, stories about gender inequality in science, technology, engineering, and math have held a constant presence in the public eye. Many groups have worked to combat these problems, including Girls Who Code and the National Girls Collaborative Project. Over time, these groups have all introduced changes to the male-dominated status quo.
These changes seemingly don’t add up to much, however. A study published by the Pew Research Center on April 1 indicated that after surveying over 100 million STEM workers, the representation of women and minorities in STEM careers has not significantly improved with only a percent increase in total representation for each group since 2016.
While many would call this a failure of inclusionary programs, Alex Keeley, multicultural advisor at the Illinois Street Residences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, sees this as a cultural failure more than anything else.
“A lot of STEM jobs are really well paying, but if women and people of color are being paid less for these same jobs, it’s a discouraging experience to be there,” Keeley said. “The outward movements are good, but they only address part of the issue.”
He’s not wrong. The Pew data indicates that since 2016, women notably make up less than half of degree recipients in almost all STEM fields. Almost all bachelor’s programs surveyed indicated that despite most health-related majors being women, they are still grossly underrepresented in nearly every other STEM program, even making up less than twenty percent of recipients of a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
Drshika Asher, a woman studying computer science at UIUC, has seen this problem firsthand.
“Engineering culture is founded on misogyny,” she said. As a student looking to break the mold and enter the workforce, Asher noted that even while studying, her majority male classmates would offhandedly indicate that the only reason she was allowed to study alongside them was because she was a woman.
The research echoes Asher’s experiences. The Harvard Business Review found that engineering classes and classmates frequently sidelined women by putting them in menial tasks. As women studying in higher education were exposed to the workplace, women have realized that misogyny in classes carries over into the workplace.
“Hearing about the #MeToo movement especially decreased the amount of women enrolling in CS, as new start-ups are never held accountable for sexism,” Asher continued.
There was one exception in the Pew data, though it came with its own fair share of doubt. Although women were noted to make up more than 70% of the healthcare industry, Asher wasn’t buying it.
“During World War II, most people in nursing were women, and so it’s become a socially acceptable program,” she said. “As time has gone on, it’s become more acceptable for women to go further and pursue higher education in the field, but it’s due to that historical context.”
Other fields don’t have this same bias, and it’s unlikely that a similar event will create a bias for CS if Asher is right. Keeley, nevertheless, sees a way forward.
“It’s much better than previous decades. If women knew math, they were considered witches. The improvements are meaningful, even if they aren’t significant,” he said. “If we make an effort to decrease marginalization, that would go a long way to improving representation as a whole.”
Source List
Alex Keeley – Multicultural Advisor at the Illinois Street Residences, student at UIUC
Email: akeeley2@illinois.edu
Drshika Asher – Computer science student at UIUC, friend
Email: drshika2@illinois.edu
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0730888415618728
Image Source: https://feminisminindia.com/2020/05/14/women-in-stem/