Women in STEM

The beliefs dividing men and women in science during Mary Lyon's time spent at Girton College are fortunately for the most part extinguished, and nowadays women earn up to 50% of bachelor's degrees in science and engineering and occupy many recognized high-status positions in various sectors (Charlesworth and Banaji 2019).

However, despite having made significant advancements in better recognizing and including women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) there remain sectors of marginalization and gender disparities. A summary of areas for improvement and areas of current success adapted from research done by Charlesworth TES, Banaji MR. 2019 is provided below.

Academic Representation

Areas needing improvement:

The percent of female bachelor degrees has remained stagnant for the past 15 years
Lack of female role models and instructors to encourage younger women to pursue in the physical sciences
Women remain a minority in computer science an physics at higher levels of education. (ex. masters, PhD, professors)

Areas of success:

Girls constitute 61% of AP biology, 52 % AP statistics, 50% AP chemistry in high school
Equal amounts of undergrad students apply to grad school of both genders

Compensation

Areas needing improvement:

Unequal compensation
- Women earn 79% of men's earnings
Men are overrepresented in high-paying computer science/engineering versus lower-paying biology jobs compared to women
For identical applicants; women with children on average offered $11,000 less than women without children and $13,000 compared to men with children

Areas of success:

Unequal compensation is a huge area of concern across many other career fields.

Future studies are needed to fully understand unequal compensation.

Grants

Areas needing improvement:

Women are less likely to renew grants and are less likely to apply for the top 1% of large grants
Some grant reviewers are told to review the “scientist” versus the quality of the science.
Continued differences in grant success rates due to reviewer’s biased beliefs that women's science is lesser grade compared to men

Areas of success:

The % of female applicants receiving grants is now equal to that of men
This success is due to the extra effort provided by governmental funding agencies to promote inclusivity and minimize bias

Authorship

Areas needing improvement:

Some journals continue to favour manuscripts of their gender
For the last authorship positions (highest status author) women are often represented at lower rates
Some fields (ex. physical sciences) have seen a bigger increase in men compared to women publishing in journals

Areas needing success:

Many journals have achieved gender parity
Both males and females have increased publication rates over time

Awards

Areas needing improvement:

Awards remain male-dominated (only 17% of award winners across major STEM societies were women)
Women are over-represented in teaching and service awards and under-represented in research awards, reinforcing gender stereotypes.

Areas of success:

In younger-aged awards, ex. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, women now constitute 38% of winners

By examining and comparing the categories of academic representation, compensation, grant success and authorship, as well as awards between men and women, we can more clearly see both areas that require improvements and those that are currently satisfactory concerning gender equality.

Having a diverse workforce brings fresh ideas to solving tough day-to-day challenges that are continually present in science careers (Charlesworth and Banaji 2019).

Click here to view references for this page

Charlesworth TES and Banaji MR. 2019. Gender in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics: Issues, Causes, Solutions. J Neurosci. [accessed 2023 Nov 7];39(37): 7228-7243. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0475-18.2019.

Photo references

Header: Created by our Queen Ari on Canva.

Academic Representation:

Cohen P. 2013 Feb 20. A New Book That (Finally) Tells the Truth About the Rise of Women. The Atlantic. [accessed 2023 Dec 4]. https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/02/a-new-book-that-finally-tells-the-truth-about-the-rise-of-women/273342/.

Compensation:

Podolski B. 2021 Jun 29. Total Compensation Review. ggsitccom. [accessed 2023 Dec 4]. https://ggsitc.com/blog/total-compensation-review.

Grants: Cardinal MP-P. 2021 Dec 20. 2022 Museum Grants and Funding Opportunities. Gallery Systems. https://www.gallerysystems.com/2022-museum-grants-and-funding-opportunities/.

Authorship:

Jernigan M. 2022 Aug 17. 7 Great Science Journal Covers - Blog. SayoStudio. [accessed 2023 Dec 4]. https://sayostudio.com/7-great-science-journal-covers/.

Awards:

2023. Wikimediaorg. [accessed 2023 Dec 4]. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/L%E2%80%99Or%C3%A9al_Prize_for_Women_in_Science_Awards_Ceremony.jpg.

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