Women in STEM
By: Zuena Swaleh and Abigael Chebet
According to a 2018 UNICEF report, both girls and boys are stereotyped to study traditionally ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ subjects. This means that gender gaps in labour market persist despite women’s academic achievements. This applies to STEM fields where statistics have shown that there are low numbers of women in STEM careers.
This is due to large gender gaps in STEM professions which are mostly due to stereotypes and sexism. The stereotypes of women having less natural talent than men in STEM fields which are simply untrue since boys and girls are fairly equal in terms of the actual skills; gender does not seem to make a difference. The stereotypes lower the morale of women and demotivate them affecting the girls who are yet to join STEM fields due to fear of discrimination from the members of the society.
Most women in STEM careers are most likely to leave. This is due to sexism from workplace which are still heavily male dominated. Apart from being frustrated by discrimination from the society, women have to face the unfriendly environments and difficult work cultures. Considering these, girls in colleges get away from pursuing STEM professions and are most likely to also do so in the future if these are not dealt with since they rather major in professions with less hassle and issues.
To eliminate such mindsets among women especially those in colleges, teachers, parents and STEM professionals can work together to help engage young girls demonstrating that there are active people working to help girls be more involved; to fight the sexism and stereotypes that girls may experience as well as highlight the historical contributions of women in STEM fields. This might help make it clear to both men and women have made important contributions.
Similar Posts by The Mt Kenya Times:
- From brokenness to purpose: A journey of faith, resilience, and renewal
- Rhino Ark calls on State to halt to airstrip construction in Mt Kenya forest reserve
- Acorn partners with Absa and Co-operative banks to ease affordable students accomodation and start-up capital
- Sonalika tractors enter Kenyan market in boost for farm mechanization
- Kalro urges nationwide adoption of aflasafe to combat deadly aflatoxin contamination in food
About the Author
