On United Nations' International Day of Women and Girls in Science you are never too young to reach for the stars
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February 11 marks the United Nations’ International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
It coincides with the start of British Science Week, which comes hot on the heels of the STEM Ambassadors in Scotland week at the start of this month.
Science is big news, as are the technology, engineering and maths that make up the rest of the STEM acronym.
And no one can argue with attempts to address the historic gender inequality in these subjects.
Despite a shortage of skills in most of the technological fields, women still account for only 28 per cent of engineering graduates and 40 per cent of graduates in computer science and information (https://www.un.org/en/observances/women-and-girls-in-science-day).
Female researchers tend to have shorter, less well-paid careers. Their work is under-represented in high-profile journals, and they are often passed over for promotion.
It doesn’t sound fair because it isn’t. And it matters because most of the jobs of the future are going to be in STEM, so if we don’t do something to address the imbalance, we will further exacerbate the issue of female inequality.
So, what are we doing about it?
The Scottish national average for female enrolment into STEM subjects currently sits at 41.6 per cent.
The Scottish Government’s STEM Education and Training Strategy - against a deadline of 2022 - aims to increase both attainment goals in physics and computing (by 15 per cent and 20 per cent respectively) and the general uptake of females studying STEM subjects.
Every university and college in Scotland has a target of achieving 25 per cent of an under-represented gender on any course by 2030 – and that means trying to encourage men into nursing as well as women into STEM subjects. (www.hoolet.co.uk)
Developing the Young Workforce acknowledges that too many young people continue to make career and training choices which conform to gender stereotypes, which in turn limits their longer-term career opportunities.
And it’s here we can all play a part in empowering girls by the time they start thinking about their future career paths. Children’s attitudes towards gender are fully formed by the age of seven.
A few years ago, I attended a conference which showed a powerful film of primary school-aged young people being asked by their teacher to draw a firefighter, a surgeon, and a fighter pilot.
Most drew the picture of a man in the associated uniform. They then brought into the classroom in person a female firefighter, a female surgeon and a female fighter pilot, all in their uniform.
The children looked in awe. They were asked to draw these roles again. Any guesses which gender they associated the roles with this time?
We need to look to ourselves - the way we speak, the phrases we use, the assumptions we make – to make sure we’re not part of the problem.
If we change the conversation, maybe we can change the outcome. And we all reap the benefits when everyone is able to succeed in STEM – regardless of sex.
- Sarah Barnes is regional programme manager at Developing the Young Workforce Moray.
