Women in STEM

Programs for Women in STEM

Once women decide to enter into a STEM major, it can be difficult to keep them in STEM as it is a hostile environment for females. Yale researchers found that chemists, biologists, and physicists favor the male between a man and a woman with the exact same qualifications for job selection (Pollack). Even if the woman was chosen for the job she was offered $4,000 less than the man (Pollack). Several women have chosen not to take STEM classes or select a STEM major after ridicule from others. Eileen Pollack, a professor at the University of Michigan, personally recalls not being able to take advance math and physics courses in high school after her principal assured her that “girls just don’t do math and science” and then later when she decided not to go to graduate school for physics after not a single professor told her to proceed to graduate school, yet encouraged many less qualified males to continue on to a graduate degree. A young woman at a tea for women interested in science held by Judith Krauss, a professor at Yale, recalls her Advanced Placement Physics class in high school taunting her with phrase such as “You’re a girl. Girls can’t do physics”  and another woman recalls being graded on the “girl curve” in her physics class, because her professor believed there was no way women could be expected to do as well in physics as men (Pollack).

 

Even if women decide to pursue STEM, there is a high dropout rate due to gender bias in the classroom and a hostile workplace. Programs specifically for women interested or pursuing STEM are critical in creating relationships and safe environments that are important to women staying in the field. 

Pollack, Eileen. "Why Are There Still So Few Women in Science." NY Times. The New York Times Company, 3 Oct. 2013. Web. 5 Jan. 2014.