The Lack of Women in the STEM Field STEM jobs, including science, technology, engineering and math, considered as good jobs now and for the future, but women hold only 24% of labors in the STEM field even though women already hold almost half of all labor force.
Tim Hunt, an English biochemist, a Nobel Prize Winner, who claims that Scientists should work in gender-segregated laboratories. He says, “Let me tell you about my trouble with girls … three things happen when they are in the lab … you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and when you criticize them, they cry.” Hunt has a prejudice against female scientists and he even refused to work with women. I believe that Mr. Hunt is not the only male scientist who has …show more content…
A female candidate faces more challenge than a man in the STEM field. Less hirable means it is harder for women to find a job. Less mentoring means it is more difficult for women to get promotion opportunities. Furthermore, the gender based wage gap also exists, “For every dollar earned by a man in STEM, a woman earns 14 percent less” (Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation 4). Gender stereotyping happens in the STEM field a lot, which not only a hurt for women but to the benefit of the company. Since the gender stereotyping, it is not hard to explain why women hold only 24% of labors in the STEM field, which is much lower than we expected. First of all, women hold a disproportionately low share of STEM education degrees. As a whole, there are always more men who are willing to pursue higher education degrees in the STEM field than women, and then higher education levels usually correspond to higher possibilities to get succeed in the STEM field. So the lack of women in the STEM filed may partly because most women have relatively weaker education backgrounds than men in the STEM …show more content…
When women decide to spend more time on childcare, they will loss working experiences, and be less efficiency: “Some mothers take time out of employment, and loss of work experience affects later wages. Human capital theory predicts that experience and seniority have positive returns because they involve on-the-job training that makes workers more productive” (Budig and England 205). In this view, it applies that the working efficiency of women will decrease if they spend more time with their children and distract from the work. In contrast, men do not need to face this problem, lots of studies have shown that, in a labor market, women usually have “child salary penalty”, while men usually have “marriage and child premium.” It is not hard to explain why more employers think male candidates are more hirable and give them higher wages from an economic angle. Childcare is an issue faced by every woman in the STEM field: “A report recently released by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), highlights restrictions in state policies that limit parents’ ability to participate in education and job training, inhibiting their opportunities for economic mobility.” Some women even choose to quit the job or do a part time job instead after they have children. In this way, taking care of children will limit a woman’s time to concentrate
Tim Hunt, an English biochemist, a Nobel Prize Winner, who claims that Scientists should work in gender-segregated laboratories. He says, “Let me tell you about my trouble with girls … three things happen when they are in the lab … you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and when you criticize them, they cry.” Hunt has a prejudice against female scientists and he even refused to work with women. I believe that Mr. Hunt is not the only male scientist who has …show more content…
A female candidate faces more challenge than a man in the STEM field. Less hirable means it is harder for women to find a job. Less mentoring means it is more difficult for women to get promotion opportunities. Furthermore, the gender based wage gap also exists, “For every dollar earned by a man in STEM, a woman earns 14 percent less” (Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation 4). Gender stereotyping happens in the STEM field a lot, which not only a hurt for women but to the benefit of the company. Since the gender stereotyping, it is not hard to explain why women hold only 24% of labors in the STEM field, which is much lower than we expected. First of all, women hold a disproportionately low share of STEM education degrees. As a whole, there are always more men who are willing to pursue higher education degrees in the STEM field than women, and then higher education levels usually correspond to higher possibilities to get succeed in the STEM field. So the lack of women in the STEM filed may partly because most women have relatively weaker education backgrounds than men in the STEM …show more content…
When women decide to spend more time on childcare, they will loss working experiences, and be less efficiency: “Some mothers take time out of employment, and loss of work experience affects later wages. Human capital theory predicts that experience and seniority have positive returns because they involve on-the-job training that makes workers more productive” (Budig and England 205). In this view, it applies that the working efficiency of women will decrease if they spend more time with their children and distract from the work. In contrast, men do not need to face this problem, lots of studies have shown that, in a labor market, women usually have “child salary penalty”, while men usually have “marriage and child premium.” It is not hard to explain why more employers think male candidates are more hirable and give them higher wages from an economic angle. Childcare is an issue faced by every woman in the STEM field: “A report recently released by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), highlights restrictions in state policies that limit parents’ ability to participate in education and job training, inhibiting their opportunities for economic mobility.” Some women even choose to quit the job or do a part time job instead after they have children. In this way, taking care of children will limit a woman’s time to concentrate