Barbara Wagner Chief Economist Montana STEM Mentors Summit Nov. 6, 2015, Bozeman, MT

Why the focus on STEM? 1.1% Job Growth 1.7% 5,950 New Jobs Per Year 1,008 $39,880 Average Wage $66,182 ~700 visas Worker Supply ~700 visas VS.

Why the focus of women in STEM? 1.STEM workers are predominantly men in US. Women Source: Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics. MT OES, MT DLI Men

Why women in STEM? 2. Lack of women harms economy U.S. economic growth depends on – Innovation – Human capital Not using all of our resources to their best potential Lower entrepreneurialism Women and Patents 7.5% of all patents 5.5% of commercialized patents Discrepancy attributed to fewer women in R&D positions Eliminating the gender gap in patenting would increase GDP per capita by 2.7% Source: Blume-Kohout et al, Small Business Administration

5 Why the focus on Women in STEM? 3. Some fields haven’t improved over time

6 All Employed Workers 45.7% Of Employed 47.2% Of Employed

7 Physical Scientists ($74,800) 21.3% Of Employed Were WOMEN 47.2% Of Employed Source: National Science Foundation, STEM Education Data and Trends 2014.

8 Social Scientists ($67,600) 50.7% Of Employed Were WOMEN 51.1% Of Employed Source: National Science Foundation, STEM Education Data and Trends 2014.

9 Engineers ($86,500) 8.6% Of Employed Were WOMEN 12.7% Of Employed Source: National Science Foundation, STEM Education Data and Trends 2014.

10 Biology, Ag, Environment ($69,980) 34% Of Employed Were WOMEN 48.2% Of Employed Source: National Science Foundation, STEM Education Data and Trends 2014.

11 Computer and Math ($76,200) 30.8% Of Employed Were WOMEN 25.1% Of Employed Source: National Science Foundation, STEM Education Data and Trends 2014.

4. Women tend to work in lower paying STEM jobs Percent Female (US) and Average Wage (MT) in STEM Careers Source: Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics. MT OES, MT DLI

Percent Female (US) and Average Wage (MT) in Non-health related STEM Careers Even within “hard science” occupations, women: Get less funding dollars Less likely to lead teams Source: Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics. MT OES, MT DLI Hunt et al, Natural Bureau of Economic Research, WP 17888, 2012.

5. The Gender Wage Gap Nationally, Women earn 70.6% of men. In Montana, Women earn 67.5% of men. Source: 2013 American Community Survey, 3-Year Estimates 14

The Full-Time, Year-Round Wage Gap Women more likely to work part-time than men. Including only people that work full-time, year-round, – Women earn 78% of men nationally, – Women earn 75% of men in Montana. 15 Source: 2013 American Community Survey, 3-Year Estimates

U.S. Occupations where Women Work 16 Source: ACS, Year Estimates. Some small occupations removed for simplicity. Less Money

U.S. Industries Where Women Work 17 Source: ACS, Year Estimates. Some small industries removed for simplicity. More Money Less Money

Hours Worked, Occupation, and Industry Explain Part of the Wage Gap, But Also Evidence of Discrimination Men are more likely to be hired than women, with the bias towards men increasing in higher-paid jobs. – For a low-wage job, females are 9% less likely to get the job. – At the top of the wage distribution, females are 50% less likely to get the job. 18 Source: 2013 ACS 3-Year estimates, Census Current Population Data, BLS. Gobillon, Meurs, Roux in Journal of Labor Economics, V33, n2, April 2015 and other studies. Most research finds an “unexplained” wage gap of 5% to 15%

Occupation Choice Only Part of the Story Men Out-earn Women in All Job Categories 19 Pay Gap Ratio Percent Female Source: ACS, Year Estimates. Some small industries removed for simplicity.

Gender Pay Gap is Less in STEM 14% gap in STEM vs. 21% in non-STEM Women in STEM earn 33% more than their peers in other jobs 25% for men Adjusted pay gap is smallest in engineering, even if few women in field Hourly Earnings by Occupation and Gender, 2009, Full-Time Workers Source: Beede et al, U.S. Dept of Commerce, 2011

STEM Careers Ideal for Women Gender pay gap partially explained by “water cooler” time, which flex-time, part- time, or work from home workers might not get Some occupations require inter-office communication for success Management Communication Other occupations require long work hours to be successful Business, sales IT jobs don’t require “water cooler time” or long hours to be successful

Why the focus on Women in STEM? 1.Rapidly growing area with high-paying jobs. 2.Women are under-represented. 3.Under-representation harms our economy. 4.Better representation may address the pay gap. 5.Representation is not improving fast enough. 6.Some research suggests STEM jobs ideal for women balancing work and family.

What are we doing wrong? 23 In elementary, males and females have equal performance in math and science. In 8 th grade, white males slightly outperform females on math and science exams. For blacks, the opposite is true, suggesting cultural factors play a role. Source: National Science Foundation Education Data Some research has suggested that STEM teachers give male students more praise and opportunities. Other research disagrees about teachers; females need more encouragement.

Differences manifest in High School In high school, performance differences manifest, with females are less likely to take AP exams in STEM. Some research suggests females turned off by the competitiveness of high school STEM courses. 24 Source: National Science Foundation Education Data Buser et al, 2013, Gender STEM gap exists across most developed countries, but not all Other countries have improved performance in international math competitions by increasing recruitment of females

Post-Secondary Gaps Emerge 25 Women earn 57% of all bachelor’s degrees. – Roughly half of science and engineering degrees. – Men hold majority in engineering, computer science, and physics – Share of women in computer science has fallen from 28% in 2000 to 18% in Women earn 47% of all doctorates. – Less than 1/3 in physical science, math, computer science, and engineering. Source: National Science Foundation Education Data 2014.

Gender and Selection of School Male graduate students more likely to receive industry financial support in most fields – One study suggested women have $30,000 more education debt than men Female grad students in chemical and mechanical engineering are more likely to enroll in a school with no industry-funded R&D In fields with few women, women are more likely to attend programs with more female faculty Female STEM graduate students more likely to enroll in lower- ranked departments Source: Blume-Kohot et all, Small Business Administration

Female Students Less Likely to Receive Private Funding Source: Blume-Kohot et all, Small Business Administration Percent of Graduate Students Funded by External Private Sector

Science Faculty Demonstrate Gender Bias Like Employers Identical resumes sent to hire laboratory manager – 50% male name, 50% female Female was rated less competent, less hirable, and was less likely to be offered mentoring Faculty gender, age, or field did not affect bias Male Female Source: Moss-Racusin et al, PNAS vol 109 no. 41 Starting salary offer for men about $4,000 higher than for women

In the Workplace 29 STEM Ph.D.s who left their job 1 in 6 STEM Ph.D.s work outside of STEM More likely for recent graduates Females more likely than males Minorities more likely than whites Female leavers were less likely than male leavers to be In R&D positions In management positions Turk-Bicakci and Berger, American Institutes for Research.

Women Leaving Stem Fields #1 reason for exit is family and work/life balance – But this is true for most occupations Women exiting engineering are more likely than exits from other fields to – Report sexual harassment – Greater dissatisfaction with promotion and pay Suggests mentoring and networks would address STEM gender gap Women exit science and engineering jobs more than any other type of job. Hunt, Natural Bureau of Economic Research, WP 15853, 2010

Role Models Matter Women who interacted with “nonstereotypical” role models had greater confidence in their success in computer science Source: Betz, Cheryan et. Al, Social Psychological and Personality Science Gender-neutral STEM role models were found to be more effective motivators among middle-school students Gender of role model less important

Mentoring Appears to Make a Difference Having a female primary school teacher has a negative impact on female student math performance Not true for reading No impact on male students Depends on teacher confidence in math ability (Antecol et al, Journal of Labor Economics, v 33 no. 1 p. 63.) “women’s relative lack of professional confidence contributes to their attrition in STEM fields.” ( Cech et al., American Sociological Review v. 76. n 5 p )

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