In the workforce, women have been closing the gender gap in both rate of employment and income nearly year after year. During the recession that started in 2008, when job loss was approaching Great Depression numbers, women held onto jobs at much higher rates than men did. Currently, the number of women in the workforce is on the brink of surpassing men for the first time in American history (Rampell, 2009).

Despite these encouraging stats, lingering gender stereotypes in the workplace lead to ongoing preconceived notions that a woman’s place is not in the STEM disciplines. Over time, I hope this notion disappears, but I recognize that it will do so slowly. With this in mind, I’d like to share some facts and stats about women in STEM majors and the workforce.

• From the National Science Foundation (NSF):
  • In 1966 women earned fewer than 5% of all bachelor’s degrees in physics; in 2006 they earned more than 20% of them.
  • In those same years, women earning engineering degrees grew from .4% to more than 19%.
  • In chemistry, the leap was from 18% to more than 50%.
  • From the Department for Professional Employees:
    • Women account for better than 57% of the workforce, but only 47% of science professionals, 25% percent of computer and math professionals, and about 14% of architectural and engineering professionals.
    • Women are very well represented in medical sciences, where they are actually in the majority, at 54% plus; in the biological sciences, they represent a healthy 48% of all workers.
    • Men continue to outearn women in STEM fields, making an average of 20% more than women.
    • According to the Economics and Statistics Administration:
      • Women in STEM jobs earn about 33% more than women in non-STEM jobs.

As you can see, there have been some promising developments for women who are studying and working in STEM fields, but there remains an obvious gender gap overall.

At the college level, many institutions are implementing year-round recruitment programs to attract females to STEM programs. Institutions are also raising awareness of gender stereotypes in their faculties so that instructors and professors can self-monitor their behaviors in order to minimize any chance of fostering a gender-biased environment.

The NSF has implemented the ADVANCE program, which aims to increase the advancement of women in science and engineering careers within academia.

Though there are no simple answers, programs like the ones described above will go a long way toward continuing to close the gender gap in STEM fields.

Karen Purcell