TED Outline

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Introduction:

• Walking into Math 230 on the first day of college and realizing of the 20 people already in the room, only one is female.
• While four more later trickled in, the class is still only 20% women.
• Class representative of the College of Engineering at Penn State, which was 20.9% in Fall of 2015. [Source]

What exactly is the gender gap in STEM?

• Not in all STEM fields. Biological sciences are about 50-60% women, even at the Ph.D level. Math and Physical sciences have lower representation, but are almost equal a the bachelor’s and master’s level (40%) but drops down further to 30% when looking at PhDs.
• The gender gap is very apparent in CS and Engineering degrees, where undergraduates are approximately 18% female. https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/2013/digest/theme2_1.cfm

Where does this gender gap come from?

History:

• Historically, women were seen as not being capable of being in Engineers.
• “In 1955, Penn State’s dean of engineering declared, “Women are NOT for engineering,” asserting that all but a few “unusual women” such as Lillian Gilbreth lacked the “basic capabilities” necessary.” “Women Are NOT for Engineering”
• Even as women moved into the fields of biology and physics, there seemed to be few people who thought they should move into engineering. Women’s colleges had programs for sciences but not for the T or E of STEM.
• Huge shift to go from this to realizing women are perfectly capable at Engineering, but not enough to create equality in the field. Dramatic change to now, where women take their ability to be enrolled in Engineering programs for granted.

Why does it still exist?

• Perfectionism
  • Women are way more turned off from STEM fields if they receive worse grades in introductory courses, due to a stronger sense of perfectionism among women.
  • Very high standards for self, and much larger fear of failure.
  • How to Get Girls to Choose, and Stick With, STEM Careers: A Future Tense Event Recap
• Stereotypes
  • Women see CS majors as socially isolated young men with innate ability at CS, fear they won’t fit in
  • Girls assume they are not as gifted as men in CS so they are unable to see themselves in the field
  • Engineering in the media is extremely male and nerdy (BBT), which can turn off women as well. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/opinion/sunday/what-really-keeps-women-out-of-tech.html
  • Not as many famous Female computer scientists/engineers (can you think of any?) so women cannot see themselves in the field
• Values tied with STEM
  • When STEM is tied with “feminine caregiving values,” both genders have a positive response to idea of making a difference
  • Want a gender neutral field (making it too feminine turns girls off, too) where they can succeed socially
  • Need to use proper feminine traits to encourage
  • Lipstick and Nail Files Won’t Draw Women Into Science
• Babies & STEM careers
  • Many people think STEM will take up too much time to be a mother, so they are turned off from the field
  • How to Get Girls to Choose, and Stick With, STEM Careers: A Future Tense Event Recap

Why does it matter? Why do we need women in tech?

• Women help the tech industry:
  • Can be more knowledgeable about what women want in a product and what they’ll buy. We Need More Women in Tech: The Data Prove It
  • Diverse teams will have more ideas and better ideas because they have a wider variety of sources for their information
• Not being in tech is bad for women
  • Huge number of open, well paying jobs in tech.

Should women feel pressured to participate in STEM even if they don’t want to?

• Personal experience
  • Math Prize for girls at MIT
  • One speaker, a senior majoring in math at MIT who had previously participated in the competition, spoke about her plans for after college.
  • Wanted to want to be a professor due to the huge difference in gender proportions between male and female professors, but had other desires for her career.
  • Struggled to validate her choice, despite it being personal, because she wanted to benefit women.
• Women are pressured to go into STEM if they excel at math
  • Parents and teachers have encouraged me to explore engineering because I am strong in math and science, but engineering doesn’t appeal to me.
  • Feel like I am not doing enough even though I am actually in a underrepresented STEM field…can always do more?
• Women fighting back: Humanities are 100% valid
  • No one can force women to make any career choice they don’t want
  • Closing the gender gap is important, but what’s more important is allowing women to be independent and make their own decisions, as we’ve done with men for centuries.