He found households who have both parents working in fields of STEM, both having demanding schedules, the man’s career is often given more priority and the woman must leave her job. This is incredibly problematic as evidenced by research conducted by Hewlett (2008). After beginning a family, women are generally thought of to be the primary caregiver due to maternal instincts or because of classic societal norms, whilst men can choose how much involvement they want with their families because they are the primary breadwinner (Barrett&McIntosh, 2015). A study conducted by the Society of Women Engineers (2006) found that most women who left their jobs in engineering did this due to family-related issues. Married women with children in STEM have a disadvantage compared to married men in relation to receiving promotions (Xie&Shauman, 2003). Despite this, certain STEM sub disciplines such as biomedical engineering attract more women due to the fact that they have a clearer social purpose (Gibbons, 2009).įinally, it is believed many women leave STEM careers because they cannot balance working and family responsibility, but this is more convoluted than it is made out to be. Following her findings, most people do not view STEM occupations as directly having a benefit on society (National Academy of Engineering, 2008), and therefore STEM subjects do not appeal to those who value making a social contribution (Eccles, 2006). She found that women are more likely to prefer work with a clear social purpose. Research conducted by Eccles (2006) showed that men and women’s occupational choice is influenced by the value that they place on how much this career can contribute to society. 2005), and children from a young age believe they cannot pursue particular occupations as their gender is inappropriate (Hartung et al. Culturally, gender roles influence occupational interest (Low, et al. This can tie into the fact that STEM fields are considered to be ones that men pursue, and this therefore links into the issue of gender roles. Secondly, there is typically a lack of interest or self confidence in girls to pursue careers in STEM subjects. From this, it is evidenced that women who dedicate themselves to a career in STEM subjects must already work much harder than that of men, to prove themselves academically and attempt to feel socially included and supported. A direct quote from the research of Heiman and Okimoto (2007, p.92) in relation to women working in these fields says, “doing what men do, as well as they do it, does not seem to be enough women must additionally be able to manage the delicate balance of being both competent and communal”. When having evidenced their competency, they are typically disliked and therefore become socially rejected, meaning reward allocations in the forms of promotions and an increase in salary are taken away. Because of this, women leave STEM fields at a higher rate than male colleagues (Hewlett et al, 2008). There are several key reasons for why this is.įirstly, STEM fields are typically perceived as being fields for only men to work in, and therefore when women attempt to pursue careers in these fields, they are considered to be less competent than men. Globally, women only make up 28% of the workforce in STEM fields, a shockingly low statistic for the fastest-growing and highest-paid jobs of the future (The Stem Gap, 2020). The field of STEM focuses on establishing a curriculum in four disciplines: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. News & Calendar Open submenu News & Calendar.
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