Article image: feminisminindia.com
Author: Katherine Li
Throughout the world, girls are severely underrepresented in STEM classes, clubs, competitions, and workforces. Globally, 130,000,000 girls around the world are not enrolled in school, and only 28% of the STEM workforce are women. We see this pattern in our local community too: girls make up only around 25% of the Nassau County All-Stars math team.
Such a discrepancy comes from unconscious bias and stereotypes that associate STEM with masculinity, therefore discouraging girls from pursuing such fields. Other causes include child marriage and poverty, which both often disallow girls from accessing education. In Hungary and Chile, less than 20% of parents anticipate their daughters pursuing a career in STEM. In India, despite women making up 43% of STEM graduates, only 14% of the STEM workforce are women. This pattern even extends to areas that are considered more developed. In the US, my friends have been victims of sexist comments and threats in nation-wide math camps and programs. These all create a vicious cycle as underrepresentation causes a deficiency of female role models in STEM, which only continues to discourage other girls and women.
However, in recent years steady progress has been made. The gender gap remains but is closing. This means that future generations must continue this progress, and to not let our successes be taken away from us as has been many times in history. This means we must actively introduce the joy of STEM to younger generations of girls in K-12, educate them, and create for them a community of girls and women in STEM to actively encourage girls to continue pursuing their passions.
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