Percentage of female students enrolled in natural science, mathematics and statistics programs in higher education in different parts of the world. Source: UNESCO
The under-representation of girls in STEM fields is a global issue. Studies have shown girls perform better or equally to boys, but still to this day fewer women are STEM graduates. According to the Psychological Science journal. researchers have found:
“Women in the developing world, where it’s thought there’s greater gender inequality, are more attracted to STEM fields than those in the developed one.”
Girls are self-selecting in the process of choosing professions, to enter fields where they believe their strengths lies, although they are capable and have the skill set necessary to excel in STEM. Surprisingly, STEM fields have had almost an equal amount of each genders hired, however increasing the number women interested in this area of study has fallen. Professor of psychological sciences at University of Missouri, David Geary calls this the gender-equality paradox between the wealth of a country and the number of women who aim for a STEM degree. Geary exclaims, “as the countries got wealthier, more gender equal and more liberal, fewer women got college degrees in STEM fields. Even in countries where girls did as well or better than boys in science, they’ll did even better in reading comprehension or language arts. This shows many of these girls are going to go with their strength, meaning going into humanities or social sciences, rather than in the STEM field. Although, they are more than capable of doing well in the technology industry.
Looking at it from a global perspective, nations with greater wealth and economics have more opportunities to forgo choices based merely on economics. On the other hand, in countries where gender is more unequal, the opportunity for women to find STEM careers does not come by easily. Reaching out to women of all backgrounds and less developed areas is another approach to encourage them to enter these fields, solely giving them the option to pursue STEM can make all the difference.
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