Progress is unequal, but women are achieving significant success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Despite the overall gain, certain sectors continue to show large differences in enrollment by gender. These fields include computer science, engineering, economics and physics, which are proportional to men.
There is also a pay gap between recent college graduates in all STEM fields.
Women are making a profit in STEM, but the pay gap remains.
More women are measuring the stem
Based on data from the Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System (IPEDS), women represented 45% of STEM students in 2020, up from 40% in 2010 and 34% in 1994.
IPEDS has been tracking fall enrollment by major field of study and gender since 1994. The four fields related to STEM include engineering, biology, mathematics and physics.
The Research Science Institute (RSI), the most prestigious summer STEM program for high school students, reports that female students will outnumber male students for the first time in 2022, representing 55% of recognized US students, up from 22% in 1984.
RSI uses the same admission criteria for male and female students: Excellence. Joan P., president of the RSI-sponsored Center for Excellence in Education (CEE). According to DeGenhero, this year’s milestone is “proof that talent can reach everyone with perseverance and determination.”
The predominance of women in the overall undergraduate enrollment
The trend of STEM enrollment is lower than the overall college enrollment by gender, but women are catching it.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, female students represented 58 percent of total graduate enrollment in the fall of 2020. According to the National Student Clearinghouse, by the spring of 2021, 59.5% of college students were women.
A possible cause? Women are more likely than men to be admitted to college after graduating from high school.
Gender distribution varies according to the field of study
Based on data from the 2016 follow-up to the 2016 Graduation and Beyond Longitudinal Studies (B&B: 16/17), women represent 53% of Bachelor of Science, Engineering and Mathematics graduates, 65% of Bachelor of Psychology and other subjects in Social Sciences and 80%. Health and Medicine for Bachelor Degree Recipients.
However, the gender distribution in STEM cases is more uneven when drilling into specific areas of the study. Only 16% of computer and information science graduates, 21% of engineering and engineering technology graduates, 27% of economics graduates and 38% of physics graduates represent women.
On the other hand, they represent 48% of bachelor’s degree holders in mathematics and statistics, 63% of bachelor’s degree holders in biology and biomedical sciences, and 83% of health professional and bachelor’s degree holders in related sciences, social and behavioral sciences. -STEM field.
In mathematics, computer science, science, engineering and technology, women are likely to be proportionately half as much as men. A much lower proportion of women choose to be predominant in these fields than in the non-STEM field, contributing to the gender gap.
The constant gap between employment and income
Women are under-represented in the STEM profession and earn less than men in STEM jobs.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that women represented 27% of STEM workers in 2019, up from 8% in 1970. They represent 75% of workers in healthcare, 64% of workers in social sciences, 50% or workers in life sciences and 47% of workers in mathematics.
In the same field as men, women with bachelor’s degrees continue to differ in income even after graduation.
This table shows details of annual income one year after graduation with a bachelor’s degree based on B&B: 16/17 data.
One year after graduation with a bachelor’s degree Annual income by field of study and gender A [+]
U.S. Census Bureau data, which is based on all staff in the STEM field, shows a broader disparity, not just based on recent college graduates. This table shows the average income for civilians 16 years of age or older.
Gender and Occupational Average Differences in STEM Fields Based on US Census Bureau A [+]
In addition, women working in the STEM profession earn less than men in all ethnic groups.
Pending law
The STEM Booster Act of 2021 seeks to increase the participation of women and minorities (S. 2217 and HR 4366) in STEM in the following population groups. This bill was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Maji K. Hirono (D-HI) and Caroline B., Member of Parliament. Raised by Maloney (D-NY-12)
The law will provide funding for online STEM workshops, student mentoring programs in STEM, STEM internships for undergraduate and graduate students, STEM outreach for K-12 schools, and programs for hiring and retaining under-represented faculties in STEM.
