For decades, there has been significant investment in education to address the need for more Americans to take more Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)1 courses to prepare for the ever-evolving jobs of the future.
As that push spread across the country, there were many disparities noted along the way, one being the gender gap. While many investments in education and policy have made some progress to close this gap, there are still areas of significant difference
in need of attention.
Last year, Gallup conducted a web survey of over 2,000 US Gen Z youth2. In it, they asked questions to measure the participants’ interest in
and preparation for various careers, including STEM roles. When Gallup segregated the responses by gender, they found that there is still a significant disparity between males and females. The overall findings reflect that confidence and exposure
are among the key reasons the gender gap still exists.
When asked about their interest in occupations in life and physical science, technology, engineering, and math, 85%of Gen Z males state they are very or somewhat interested in at least one of these sectors, compared
with 63% of Gen Z females. The fields with the largest gender gaps (28 percentage points each) in reported interest are engineering and computers and technology.
Consequently, when asking questions related to exposure to concepts in the technology, engineering, and math fields they found female participation in environmental sciences is the one area where exposure is statistically equal. When compared to male
participation in various technology, engineering and math related classes female respondents’ exposure was lagging at upwards of 15 percentage points behind males in exposure to coding related concepts in school.
Among respondents who noted they are not interested in pursuing a STEM career, 60% say it is because they don’t enjoy STEM and 48% because they would not be good at those roles. While Gen Z males and females responded equally about not enjoying STEM,
confidence in one’s own ability in STEM-related areas differs significantly by gender.
As demonstrated by the graphic above, Gen Z females are nearly 20 points more likely than their male counterparts to say they don’t think they would be good at a STEM career. By contrast, males are more likely to say they don’t know enough about STEM
careers.
While many of us reading this cannot affect course offerings in schools and their funding in Title I schools, we can affect the confidence and exposure to STEM related experiences for young women in our programs. Included in this blog are two women in
leadership of two organizations actively empowering female attainment of careers in STEM. I had the honor of interviewing both women about their feelings related to the gender gap in STEM and how educators can be a part of the solution.
First to be interviewed was Dr. Patrice Johnson, former CPO of Black Girls Code and current CEO of Project Scientist. Project Scientist
is an organization whose purpose is to ignite and cultivate STEAM confidence in marginalized and underserved girls ranging in age from four to 18. By delivering high-quality STEAM experiences, they provide access to education and gainful career pathways
that expand professional opportunities and awareness to the more than 20,000 girls they have served.
When asked how Project Scientist is actively engaging girls in STEM in the classroom, Dr. Johnson noted that they offer project-based learning in their programs that focus on providing a joyfully rigorous curriculum, experiential learning, and hands on
experience.
When asked about ways educators can support college persistence for women in STEAM, she noted that teachers and advisors alike need to engage in racial and gender equity practices actively making a choice as to how they will carry diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. Dr. Johnson said, “there needs to be a focus on fostering belonging in STEM classrooms.” She noted Project Scientist’s commitment to this and their plan to serve 600 teachers in training this year in eight sessions being held across
the country. You can find more information on this opportunity here.
When asked to suggest some proven practices she has witnessed over her career that help to keep girls’ interests in STEM piqued, Dr. Johnson said she found it, “useful to relate the topics to justice equity or community building,” relating those as concerns
that assist in making STEM relevant to Gen Z students. Educators should prioritize making the exercises relatable and real to their life. Johnson provided an example of a lesson that helps the girls to create a sample prosthetic hand using 3D printers
and a lesson that challenges the girls to engineer a sustainable bridge. She continued urging educators to give girls the space to create, she found girls to be most engaged when they were allowed to make the project their own. And despite gender
stereotypes, Dr. Johnson found making the activity something that the girls can compete in has consistently helped keep them engaged.
The work Project Scientist is doing in camps, after school programs and workshops is only part of the equation. They directly approach exposing more female students to STEAM careers as a part of college access. Across the country and in Mexico, they take
girls on field trips to real labs, mines, and places to see women actively working in STEAM roles. Johnson mentioned that Project Scientist makes these field trips happen by partnering with employer resource groups at regional companies to book these
experiences.
Next, I interviewed Dr. Kristin Austin, current Vice President of I.D.E.As (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access) at Rewriting the Code. Rewriting the Code works at the other end of STEM
achievement by serving over 23,000 college and early-career women in tech.
When asked about her thoughts to share about the progress that has been made towards closing the gap, Dr. Austin mentioned that she has noted a growing trend in the workforce in specifically recruiting women in STEM. With an increasing emphasis on Environment
Social and Governance Impact oversight on federal opportunities, companies have begun to use women’s inclusion to amplify their social impact. However, she noted that even with the improvements of diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in the workplace that Rewriting the Code has found
that the onus for female persistence in STEM is on the women they serve.
Female college students must persist in the face of microaggressions from their counterparts along the lines of race, income, and gender. Rewriting the Code actively supports women pursuing STEM careers through the hurdles that exist in college programs.
Dr. Austin noted that the marginalization in the classroom is what tends to lead women to change their major. “When women leave Computer Science, they tend to have GPAs higher than their male counterparts and they tend to graduate with higher GPAs
as well,” she said. A professor herself, Dr. Austin noted, “we need to fix the -isms that affect the environment of the classroom.”
When asked about ways educators can support college persistence for women in STEAM, Dr. Austin quickly listed several ways faculty and administration could improve the classroom experience. For instance, she noted universities could hire more representative
faculty regarding race and gender, they could insert inclusivity to their pedagogy, and actively invest in women’s success in STEM by supporting women to attend conferences in their field. And there is always the need for partnership across the education
to workforce landscape to create more pipelines for career exposure and development.
When asked what are some proven practices you suggest for educators hoping to keep girls' interest in science piqued? Dr. Austin immediately replied, “keep the subject matter fun,” and urged that educators normalize STEM by helping young women note everything
around them is directly connected to STEAM from the tools they use the services they subscribe to and the processes they have to use to access their favorite things. She also pointed out that it was important to equip them to compete in the STEM industries,
areas known to be quite competitive for all students regardless of race or gender.
To address that need, Rewriting the Code offers year-round professional development opportunities. They aspire to prepare the students before the needs arise because the windows for opportunities in tech especially are so short.
A final piece of advice Dr. Austin had for organizations that are supporting college students is to not reinvent the wheel. She urges them to collaborate with resources to broaden the services all our students are able to access.
We at the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) hope these examples of people in the field actively supporting female students in both access and success are inspiration to you. We hope some of the suggestions are actionable for you and your students
because it takes all of us to collectively empower our students toward their degree and career attainment.
1. In 2012, the acronym expanded to include the arts and became (STEAM) but much is still left to be learned about measuring involvement with the arts alongside the traditional pieces of STEM.
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