Women are Needed in STEM Fields!
Women Belong In STEM Fields
When you think of the people in STEM fields, the first thing that comes to mind is most likely a male. There is a problem with that. Women are needed in the field just as much as men are. In 2019, The United States Census states only 27% of the people in the STEM field are women. There are multiple reasons why women shy away from the STEM fields, including the lack of encouragement.
Stem consists of the education fields of science, technology, engineering
and math. While those four are the main fields, STEM is thought to
encompass many fields. It is a consistently growing field and is
constantly in high demand for individuals.
The Florida Department says that STEM fields best prevails when individuals
are supported. The lack of support needed to keep STEM fields functional is
shown through the lack of support for women within the field.
“Only 17 women have won a Nobel Prize in physics, chemistry,
or medicine since Marie Curie in 1903, compared
to 572 men. Today, only 28% of all the
world’s researches are women.”
-United Nations Educational, Science and Cultural Organization.
When you think of how many men won a Nobel Prize compared to women,
it is a very large amount. 555 more men have won a Nobel Prize. If equality
is not brought to the fields of STEM, your daughters and your granddaughter
will see the same devastating ratios in the winners of Nobel Prizes.
Humans in general need encouragement and praise in order to feel fulfilled
in their lives. When there is a lack of this encouragement we begin to feel
unmotivated or unaccomplished. The lack of encouragement from outside
forces may cause women to shy away from STEM fields. Lack of support
from family, who may support the typical gender roles, can be very
discouraging especially to young girls.
“Peer relationships influence children’s beliefs behaviours,
academic achievement and motivation,
especially during adolescence.”
-United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
The idea of peer acceptance and encouragement are very important to
children and the need to fit in it’s value. If female children going into
STEM fields are discouraged by their peers they will stay away from
it and go with the norms of their friends and peers.
While there is no one coming out and discouraging women joining STEM,
there are many factors that come into play when women are deciding to join,
Mentors or roles models are often people we can see ourselves in, someone
who may look like us, think or act like us. So when there is a lack of women
in a field it can be very difficult as a woman to believe in yourself when
pursuing that career.
In the literature review article written by Yasmeen Makarem and Jia Wang,
it is said that a lack of mentors is one of the reasons few women go into
stem fields. Without the guide of more educated individuals many people
will begin to feel hopeless or lost in their fields.
Young girls interested in STEM fields often do not have women to look up
to and many will shy away without the strong female leadership in a field.
Having strong female leadership is important for young girls.
Sexism in the STEM fields is a large factor in women not wanting to join
the field. In the article, “Why are there few women in STEM?” it is said often
said that women have less talent in the field, which pushes women out of
the field. Someone’s talent in a specific thing should not be based on their
gender. Both genders can have the same amount of talent in the field.
Women who talk about sexism in the workplace often
talk about “imposter syndrome” and how they
feel pressure to perform perfectly in order
to legitimize their place.”
-Western Governors University.
When we talk to women about their experiences in their work environment
it should not have to feel like an imposter. Women’s experiences in the
work environment should be the same as men. They should not have
pressure to make everything perfect all the time.
In an article, Them it talks about a woman Lauren Esposito who is also
in the LGBT community. “Esposito openly identifies as queer in the
sciences, where gender racial, and sexual minorities continue to
struggle from equal representation.” There are so many different things
that are not equal in the STEM community.
I was a sophomore in high school. I was the only girl in the class and
had to work on a group project. I was told by one of the boys in the
class, “I do not want to work with her because she is a girl and
younger than us.” I felt that I could do the exact same thing as them,
but because I was a girl, he did not want to work with me. I ended up
showing him that I could do the same he could. I felt very isolated
from the rest of the class.
One way to encourage young girls to take an interest in the STEM
fields to provide them with positive role models and media. Showing
girls with women in STEM fields, such as the Disney show Doc
McStuffins, will help young girls themselves in the STEM fields.
Another way is to educate and promote females in STEM fields,
especially in education settings. Encourage girls to have fun with
the fields and acknowledge achievements of women in the field.
Having STEM based camps that encourage girls to join, or even
females based camps and programs are very useful in promoting
interest in the fields and allowing girls to meet like minded girls and
not feel isolated by the male dominated fields.
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