Data - OECD A recent Bloomberg report on the best paid jobs in STEM calculate that female computer systems analysts and electrical engineers earn 85 cents for every dollar men earn [46]. The pandemic has tested and even reversed progress in expanding women's rights and opportunities. URL http://www.oecd.org/els/family/database.htm. In STEM, gender discrimination is just as rampant. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). European Sociological Review 35, 187204 (2019). The corporate funnel to top executive positions is not conducive to promotion of diverse candidates, as women lag behind men at various management levels. [54] Notice of information collectionrequest for new control number for a currently approved collection: Employer information report (EEO-1) component 1; revision of existing approval for EEO-1 component 2. URL https://www.firstinspires.org/sites/default/files/uploads/resource_library/impact/edi-impact-flyer.pdf. It's not lack of confidence that's holding back women in STEM https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2015.02.012. URL https://www.forbes.com/sites/marybethferrante/2018/10/31/before-breaking-the-glass-ceiling-women-must-climb-the-maternal-wall/#40fa4b89c519. & Wingfield, L. C. The effects of gender stereotypic and counter-stereotypic textbook images on science performance. Women make up slightly less than a quarter of those employed, with particular underrepresentation in engineering and computer jobs [9, 10]. In math, too, girls show lower interest and enjoyment. A. Institutional report cards for gender equality: Lessons learned from benchmarking efforts for women in STEM. However, numbers are increasing potentially creating more role models for girls and women. Health Research Policy and Systems 15, 12 (2017). [55] ACLU statement on federal agency decision to stop collecting wage data. 3 things to know about women in STEM - The World Economic Forum In developing countries, the gender digital divide constrains girls development of digital skills. Girls exclusion from education begins early and increases over their lifetime. URL https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/magazine/is-blind-hiring-the-best-hiring.html. The inclusion of diverse STEM role models in common media outlets promotes diversity in STEM fields and fosters a positive association of women and STEM from an early age and onwards. STEM's racial, ethnic and gender gaps are still strikingly large Society for Human Resource Management (2018). The current standard office temperature was designed in the 1960s to support the resting metabolic rate of an average forty-year-old, 70 kg male, overestimating the metabolic rate of women by as much as 35% [16]. What adversity do women even face now? The collection and reporting of data and the establishment of clearly defined and actionable metrics facilitate the formulation of effective gender discrimination policies. [1] Civil Rights Act of 1964. https://www.eeoc.gov/statutes/title-vii-civil-rights-act-1964. Girls are at least as good at solving problems in technology-rich environment as boys in most countries. Accessed June 2020. [69] Zillman, C. The Fortune 500 has more female CEOs than ever before. New results based on data from the OECD Programme for . Accelerating gender parity: What can governments do? Image: REUTERS/Adam Jourdan Alex Thornton Senior Writer, Formative Content Our Impact What's the World Economic Forum doing to accelerate action on Education, Skills and Learning? [48] Alderman, L. Britain aims to close gender pay gap with transparency and shame. Reuters (2019). Why we need more girls in Africa in STEM - The World Economic Forum Each resume is assigned a number, and applicants are referred to by their number until invited for in-person interviews. Last, information collected by any source should be shared widely and publicly, allowing those who make policy to have the most complete understanding of the situations they are aiming to rectify. In 2021, nearly one in five young women were. Accessed June 2020. Given that women are often more likely to volunteer for non-promotable tasks [35], California legislature now requires employers to factor both paid and unpaid (voluntary) work into promotions [34]. While estimates from a 2016 National Science Board report indicate that 13.7% of men and 2.6% of women entering college intend to major in engineering [28], male and female alumni of FIRST programs intend to major in engineering at a rate of 67% and 47%, respectively [29]. Empowering young women to get involved in current real-world issues, like climate action, poverty, or sustainability, is a big part. The Importance of Women in STEM: Why Diversity Matters URL https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED602091.pdf. However, our research, including a survey of thousands of Australian university students, has found women in STEM courses are often more confident than men. Gender discrimination from inequitable system design. In 2012, Sanofi looked at the gender breakdown of its internal talent pipeline and discovered that the percentage of women in management roles dropped at every level, with the steepest drop-off [] just below the senior-leadership level [70]. Reaching diverse youth in underserved communities. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER) 9, 7 (2019). URL https://globalhealth5050.org/covid19/sex-disaggregated-data-tracker/. Very few countries can boast 10 per cent or more women with programming skills. A number of international metrics to measure gender equity currently exist. The fair pay report: How pay transparency can help tackle inequalities. URL https://www.ecu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/external/evaluating-the-effectiveness-and-impact-of-the-athena-swan-charter.pdf. URL https://www.ncgs.org/wpcontent/uploads/2017/11/The-Education-of-Girls-and-Women-in-the-United-States-A-Historical-Perspective.pdf. Accessed June 2020. URL https://www.reuters.com/article/employment-eeoc/eeoc-will-cease-collection-of-pay-data-under-obama-era-rule-idUSL2N2630VT. When shaping the future for STEM industries, it's important that nobody gets left behind. FIRST competitions and challenges focus on current problems facing the STEM community. [81] Smith, K. A., Arlotta, P. & Watt, F. M. Seven actionable strategies for advancing women in science, engineering, and medicine. Accessed June 2020. 10 Reasons Why Gender Equality is Important - Human Rights Careers Promote the leadership of women and girls in addressing the challenge of climate change and seek to close gender gaps in STEM fields so that women and girls can shape the workforce of the future . Accessed June 2020. 125 million girls of primary and secondary age in the developing world are out of school. Where there were two men and two women in the pool, the likelihood of hiring a woman was 50%. Accessed June 2020. Collecting sex-disaggregated data is also essential for protecting womens health. Battle for the thermostat: Gender and the effect of temperature on cognitive performance. In family films, men are 14 times more likely to be depicted in STEM professions than women [21]. Existing jobs are being modified and new ones are emerging at the frontiers of our economies, which require knowledge and skills in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). Gilbert et al. Gender equality in STEM fields could help society advance in the future because retaining more women in the workforce will maximize innovation, creativity, and competitiveness. While girls value scientific approaches to enquiry at least as much as boys, they have lower interest in science (except health) and lower participation in science activities in most countries. The Atlantic (2016). In 2008, women only held a quarter of full-time junior faculty positions in engineering [5]. Publication No. In hiring, for example, science faculty are found to rate identical resumes with male names higher than those with female names, and were willing to offer higher salaries to the male applicant [8]. Discriminatory practices are rooted in larger cultural and social norms, and the definition of gender discrimination is continually evolving. There's a STEM gender gap When it comes to the world of science, women are in the minority. Reaching gender equality in STEM fields isn't just the right thing to do from a social standpoint. The fact there are many brilliant girls and women who might be interested in STEM, but choose to pursue careers elsewhere because of the various obstacles they may face, is a lost opportunity - both for women themselves as well as for the society as a . pay gap is smallest in life science disciplines and largest in computer science and engineering. In addition, studies indicate that even if a working mother is the households sole breadwinner, and child-rearing duties are shared equally between both parents, social norms around her implied duties and additional responsibilities as a being mother may prevent her from being seen as equally capable to her male colleagues [61, 62]. McKinsey & Company (2019). German companies with more than 500 employees must publish regular reports on gender parity [50]. WHY GENDER EQUALITY IN STEM IS IMPORTANT Gender equality is a topic that has been up for debate for a while now. Reducing gender bias in STEM - MIT Science Policy Review URL https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/e45463_e14ee6fac98d405e950c66fe28de9bf8.pdf. [37] Dothard v. Rawlinson, 433 U.S. 321 (1977). In film, men are depicted in STEM professions at five times the rate at which women are depicted. Existing jobs are being modified and new ones are emerging at the frontiers of our economies, which require knowledge and skills in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). Accessed June 2020. [66] Bortz, D. Can blind hiring improve workplace diversity? NSB-2016-1. 3 reasons gender diversity is crucial to science Data reveals that the world needs more women in STEM; here's why By Alison Bert, DMA October 1, 2018 10 mins Elsevier Connect Harvard Business Review (2018). Frontiers | Does the gender-equality paradox hold on the micro level Report, National Science Board (2018). However, while clearer definitions can lend guidance to how society identifies discriminatory actions, laws that are too specific run the risk of failing to cover all cases of gender discrimination and limiting the powers of the courts. It can be challenging to gain population-level statistics for implementing nation-wide policies without census-level reporting of pay data. For example, a recent study found that female 9th and 10th grade students perform better in science when the images in their textbooks include counter-stereotypic images of female scientists [22]. A. The Big Picture Women are also under-represented in entrepreneurship in STEM. Additionally, women now lead all five of Sanofis North America businesses, which were previously run by five men [70, 71]. New York Times (1997). [47] Michelmore, K. & Sassler, S. Explaining the gender wage gap in STEM: Does field sex composition matter? After decades of research showcasing women of color behind both men of color and White women, new UC Berkeley research highlights encouraging data in which women of color are making progress in. URL https://hbr.org/2018/09/do-longer-maternity-leaves-hurt-womens-careers. [44] Williams, J. C. & Massinger, K. How women are harassed out of science. The fact that the changing workplace demands of the 21st-century have largely gone unnoticed reflects a greater need to re-adjust systems that now serve large populations of both men and women. Natural disasters are one example. [8] Moss-Racusin, C. A., Dovidio, J. F., Brescoll, V. L., Graham, M. J. However, there is one main reason that diversity matters: innovation. There are many reasons why diversity matters and why it is so important to have more women in the STEM field. [77] COVID-19 sex disaggregated data tracker. URL https://time.com/576678/women-workforce/. [70] Fuhrmans, V. Where are all the women CEOs? Report, Pretty Brainy (2018). URL https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/08/04/air-conditioning-women-workers/31120009/. [35] Babcock, L., Recalde, M. P. & Vesterlund, L. Why women volunteer for tasks that dont lead to promotions. As of December 2019, despite the fact that 50% of American jobs belong to women [68], only 6.6% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women [69]. URL https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/indicators/. Equity leads to equality. Bloomberg (2017). The history, uses, and abuses of Title IX. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839219832310. The disproportionately lower representation of women in STEM fields is a reflection of underlying issues rooted in gender bias and discrimination. Nature 495, 224 (2013). Report, The Womens Foundation of Colorado (2017). [16] Kingma, B. [3] Table 318.45: Number and percentage distribution of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees/certificates conferred by postsecondary institutions, by race/ethnicity, level of degree/certificate, and sex of student: 2008-09 through 2014-15. To most people, the days of gender equality are over. By offering year-long clubs, after-school activities, and summer immersion programs, participants of Girls Who Code study computer science in college at 15 to 16 times the national average [26]. American Civil Liberties Union (2020). My reflections after #IWD Harry Goddard CEO Deloitte Ireland Published Mar 31, 2021 + Follow As we close out the month of March, I have been reflecting. World Health Organization (2007). Beyond borders: Why new 'high seas' treaty is critical for the world & van Marken Lichtenbelt, W. Energy consumption in buildings and female thermal demand. Conversely, women often lead divisions like human resources, administration or legalall of which have no profit-and-loss associated with them [70]. With a more diverse workforce, scientific and technological products can be better designed and represented by both females and males. Tech. Accessed June 2020. STEM: breaking gender stereotypes | UNGEI