It has been well documented that there is a lack of representation of girls and women across STEM fields. Women are half of the US workforce but only 27% of STEM workers. Similarly, “while women have surpassed men in college attendance and completion rates, women received only 19 percent of bachelor’s degrees in engineering, 19 percent in computer science, and 21 percent in physics in 2007”.
When girls and women are not represented in STEM, not only does this lead to a lack of opportunities for women and girls, but also has an overall negative impact on our world as a whole.
Women and girls bring an important perspective and contributions to the table; a lack of representation is a swath of untapped human potential that is being left on the table.
As a company dedicated to equity in STEM, as well as being female-owned and majority female led, this is an issue that is personal to us. As a result, we wanted to better understand the research behind what is driving this persistent inequality and to ensure our interventions are research-based.
In honour of International Women’s Day, today we are sharing our report titled, “Supporting Girls in STEM: Amplifying the Voices of Girls & Women“, written by Nicole Myers, our Chief Education Officer. In this report, we outline the research behind why girls and women are underrepresented in the STEM fields, interventions that have been shown to support gender equity in STEM, what we as a company are currently doing to address this issue, and our recommendations and plans for the future.
We encourage you to check out the full report below, and reflect on what you can do as an individual, a parent, an educator, and an ally to support girls and women in your life and community.