GIRLS IN STEM
GIRLS IN STEM
The lack of girls and women alike pursuing STEM subjects and other related avenues has been a consistent problem throughout history. Did you know that fewer than 27% of jobs in STEM are held by women, and that this figure is much lower in engineering and CS? Or that only one in ten managers of STEM are occupations held by women? What about the fact that girls continue to drop out of STEM subjects, despite the fact they regularly attain better grades than boys in the subjects at GCSE? This gender gap in science, maths, engineering and technology is a real issue, one that requires immediate addressing - as a female in STEM myself, this is a problem that I find both personal and intriguing. So, how can we solve it?
WHAT IS THE ISSUE?
Here are some interesting facts about us girls in STEM;
- We actually like the subject! 74% of girls are interested in either Science, technology, maths and engineering.
- The creativity and problem solving aspects of STEM interests us greatly – approximately 87% of girls who are interested in STEM like to understand how things work.
- 80% of girls fascinated in STEM express an interest in pursuing a career in the field. Yet only 13% say it’s their first choice.
- 57% of all girls say that if they went into a STEM career, they would have to work harder than a man just to be taken seriously. Furthermore, 47% of girls say that they would feel uncomfortable being the only girl in a group or class.
Weird, right?
One of the biggest problems where STEM and girls is concerned is confidence. We can see girls like STEM when they are shown what it is really about (after all, only 14% of teenage girls want to be scientists – yet once introduced to science, this figure increases), but fail to take that step further into pursuing a career avenue in it. Considering this, I am confident that should we wish to tackle this issue, then here are the two factors that we seriously need to concentrate on:
- The confidence of girls in STEM
- Introducing the infinite possibilities of science and technology at an early age
HOW?
An organisation that shares my concerns with girls and STEM is the British Science Association. My work with them has introduced several different ideas to help generate the interests of female young persons and science. Here are a few designs that we’ve thrown about;
- The use of Virtual Reality Technology. It’s no secret that VR is a technological development that interests almost everyone. New game consoles are frequently referring to VR due to their popularity with young people. I propose we take advantage of this technology to illustrate the amazements of science; we could take someone ‘inside’ the human body and show the wonders of the heart, we could take someone deep into ‘outer space’ and demonstrate the marvelousness of the universe. If introduced to schools across the globe, we could inspire young girls everywhere to look even further down the science avenue.
- What about busking events? When you hear the sweet sound of music on the streets, you stop to listen. When you see a comedy act on the street, you stop to watch. When you see a science event? Well, you can stop to take part. Busking is a unique way of introducing science to the streets; to gain the interests of people outside of school/work. We have seen the success of Techniquest – imagine that success doubling if we took it outside the building.
- When I was in Oxford University for their Residential Scheme, they offered a series of
lectures on different subjects. One that still amazes me is the Physics one – it was incredible. They introduced superconductors, and I will never forget my astonishment when I saw one ‘float’ – all because of simple physics. If they did this for everyone, I am 100% certain that many girls will be inspired by the infinite possibilities that science offers. So, my third idea is to sponsor more events such as these to help introduce science and engineering to girls across the country.
WHAT ABOUT CONFIDENCE?
I’ll tell you what inspired me to get into science, to explore its varying contents. What inspired
me, was the women before me. The women who went against social norms, who battled against their judgemental peers and pursued what they loved (science). Hidden Figures. Matilda. The Martian. These films portray women and girls successful in science, through their own achievement. The likes of Marie Curie and Rosalind Franklin, continue to inspire me today. To quote Marie Curie “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”
That message by the late Marie Curie is one that I cannot stress enough. Never fear science, engineering, or any other challenges in life – instead, face them all head on. Girls, we can give you grants, sponsorships, lectures, VR, and other amazing opportunities to get into science. We can do all that and more. But, unless you gather the courage to take the next step into STEM, then things will never change. Those confidence levels will remain low.
So whip out your Beyoncé albums, listen, and grab the bull by the horns. Did you know women in STEM earn 33% more than comparable women in non-STEM jobs? Or that the gender gap is much, much smaller between women and men in STEM than in the majority of other sectors? There are so many advantages to girls in engineering, maths and science, you’ve just got to be brave enough to take that next step into a career that might change your life.
Who knows, one day the young girls we hope to inspire might just cure diseases, develop new technologies or even change the world entirely. We all just have to be brave enough, and do more to push them in the right direction.
BY BETHANY EVANS
