Women in STEM
THE PROBLEM
The lack of women in STEM is not a genetic problem, rather it is a societal problem. The hostility towards women in the STEM environment is not as prevalent in some European countries, such as Italy and France, because as Meg Urry - an astrophysicist - states, “The men in those countries seem able to keep someone’s sexual identity separate from her scientific identity. American men can’t seem to appreciate a woman as a woman and as a scientist; it’s one or the other.” (Pollack). Female test scores as compared to males have been growing steadily in the past few decades. If the disparity was caused by genetics, why would there be an increase in female scores in such as short period of time?
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.
SOURCES:[CB1] National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, special tabulations of U.S. Department ofEducation, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Completions Survey, 2001–10.
United States. Department of Commerce. Economics and Statistics Administration. Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation.By David Beede, Tiffany Julian, David Langdon, George McKittrick, Beethika Khan, and Mark Doms. United States Department of Commerce, 3 Aug. 2011. Web. 8 Feb. 2014.
The above graph illustrates the gender gap in STEM. Women only make up a miniscule 18% of undergraduate Computer Science majors, yet make up 60% in non-STEM degrees. The only STEM field where the gap is not an issue is Biological Science, where women make up about 60% of the undergraduate major. The gap also increases as the degrees get higher in all STEM fields other than engineering.