It is no secret that men have always outnumbered women in STEM fields. For those of you that don’t know, STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. In recent years, the push to place more women in STEM fields has led to greater number of women in these fields than ever before. However, in a recent study done by The United States Department of Commerce, women make up only 25 percent of the STEM workforce. While the number of women in business and medicine continue to grow, STEM fields lag behind. Researchers chalk this up to numerous factors including: negative interactions from male peers, lack of female STEM characters in popular media, and mentors failing to push young women to take rigorous core classes such as math and science in high school.
As a woman pursuing degrees in biology and environmental science, I understand the challenges STEM women face in the workforce and college environment and although my experiences have been mostly pleasant, there have been times where my gender has brought its own obstacles. These experiences are not unique to me and are, in fact, challenges that many women in STEM fields face daily.
Although I love my chosen field, it was not something that I thought I would be doing when I was younger. In high school, my counselors were constantly trying to get me to take courses such as culinary and finance after I had completed my required number of math and sciences courses. “It is an easy A for you,” they would say. If I had heeded their advice, I would have been ill-equipped to join college STEM courses, and therefore, may have been deterred from pursuing a degree in one of these fields. This is a national problem. Young girls need to be encouraged to take rigorous math and sciences courses in high school to better prepare them for STEM programs in the future.
Because of my chosen course, I was often in classes that were predominantly male, which never bothered me until first field-based course in college. I was assigned to explore interactions between plants and other organisms while hiking and I had worn leggings to be able to freely move around and stay warm during our field excursion. About halfway through the day, I heard some of my male peers discussing what my backside looked like in those leggings. I felt awful. These were my peers, people that I would likely work with one day and instead of talking about my capabilities or my intelligence, they were talking about my butt. Did I really want to be in a line of work where my abilities were overlooked because I was a woman with a rear-end? The truth is that the majority of my experiences with my male peers were friendly and encouraging, but it only took one to make me question my career path. Nationwide, approximately 64 percent of women report negative interactions with their male coworkers, regardless of their chosen field.
Along with being objectified, it has been made evident to me that there are unspoken double standards among men and women in STEM fields. Because STEM fields are rigorous in intensity and difficulty, it takes a person of drive to be successful in them. Many times when one of my male peers stepped into a leadership role, they were considered ambitious and smart. When I, as a woman, took on such roles I was considered bossy and asked if I was “on my period.” I believe experiences like this many deter women from taking on leadership roles and thus prohibiting them from succeeding in STEM roles.
I have had some negative experiences working and going to college while being in a STEM field. However, the pros definitely outweigh the cons. During my time studying biology and environmental science, I have been able to travel, learn about clean energy, gain hands-on exposure to data collection and so much more. Being able to pull grades and keep up with the top students in my classes has made me feel like a badass. I enjoy the challenge of my courses and the dynamic places I have worked.
Being a woman in a STEM field is worth every hardship that I have come across. For this reason, I believe we should be encouraging young girls to pursue degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. And continue to fight the tribulations that may be keeping them away.
