EDUCATION CURRENT GENDER STATUS STEM Fields

NATIONAL EDUCATION TRENDS  About 20.1 million women have bachelor's degrees, compared to nearly 18.7 million men.  Among adults 25 and older, 10.6 million U.S. women have master's degrees or higher, compared to 10.5 million men.  Measured by shares, about 10.2 percent of women have advanced degrees compared to 10.9 percent of men (AP, 2011).

WOMEN IN THE STEM FIELDS HAVE WE MADE PROGRESS?

SECONDARY SCHOOL PERFORMANCE Good News  Girls are earning high school math and science credits at the same rate as boys  Girls are earning slightly higher grades in these classes  Since the early 1980s the ratio of boys to girls in this extremely select group has dramatically declined from 13:1 to around 3:1 in recent years Bad News  Fewer girls than boys take advanced placement (AP) exams in STEM-related subjects such as calculus, physics, computer science, and chemistry  Girls who take STEM AP exams earn lower scores than boys earn on average  A small gender gap persists on the mathematics section of the SAT and the ACT examinations  Students from historically disadvantaged, both female and male, are less likely to have access to advanced courses in math and science in high school, which negatively affects their ability to enter and successfully complete STEM majors in college ( (Hill, Corbett, & St. Rose, 2010). )

POST-SECONDARY SCHOOL PERFORMANCE  Although women are the majority of college students, they are far less likely than their male peers to plan to major in a STEM field  Almost one-third of all male freshmen (29 percent), compared with only 15 percent of all female freshmen, planned to major in a STEM field in 2006  Female and male first- year STEM majors are equally likely to have taken and earned high grades in the prerequisite math and science classes in high school and to have confidence in their math and science abilities  More women leave STEM majors early on in their college careers than men  In 2006, women earned almost one-half of the doctorates in the biological and agricultural sciences; around one-third of the doctorates in earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences, chemistry, and math; and approximately one-fifth of the doctorates in computer science, engineering, and physics. (Hill, Corbett, & St. Rose, 2010)

 WOMEN EARNED 48,001 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE DEGREES IN 2007, COMPARED WITH ONLY 7,944 COMPUTER SCIENCE DEGREES, 2,109 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEGREES, AND 1,024 PHYSICS DEGREES.  IN COMPARISON, MEN EARNED 31,347 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE DEGREES, 34,652 COMPUTER SCIENCE DEGREES, 16,438 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEGREES, AND 3,846 PHYSICS DEGREES. (HILL, CORBETT, & ST. ROSE, 2010) NUMBER OF DEGREES BY STEM FIELD

WHERE ARE THE LADIES AT!? FEMALE EMPLOYMENT IN STEM FIELDS

(HILL, CORBETT, & ST. ROSE, 2010) PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN EMPLOYED IN STEM PROFESSIONS,

WHY SO FEW? Three major issues:  The belief that men are mathematically superior and better suited for STEM fields  Cognitive gender differences  Girls’ are not interested in STEM  The atmosphere in STEM workplaces  Issues including bias and work-life balance (Hill, Corbett, & St. Rose, 2010)

EIGHT BARRIERS TO SUCCESS  Beliefs about Intelligence  Stereotypes  Spatial Skills  The College Student Experience  University and College Faculty  Implicit Bias  Workplace Bias (Hill, Corbett, & St. Rose, 2010)

“Although women now comprise 56% of the college population nationwide, women are still significantly underrepresented in decision-making positions in academe; they also continue to earn far lower salaries in the corporate world. There has never been a more important moment for placing women and gender at the center of the academic enterprise (Texas Christian University, 2014).”