How can we encourage more women to pursue careers in science and technology, and what actions can help reduce the gap in STEM careers?
As I mentioned in my last interview, inequality in STEM fields is a reflection of the structural inequality that exists in our society. Occupying spaces that do not seem to belong to us because we are women involves normalising the presence of women in these spaces and explaining why this is important.
However, symbolic gestures based on uncoordinated individual actions are not enough; this problem must be tackled at its root in the field of education. At the institutional level, the educational curriculum must be updated to include all women who have played a leading role in scientific and technical disciplines, as well as to raise awareness of the historical figures who fought to win rights and freedoms for women.
Dr Elena de Gioannis has analysed numerous studies on the impact of role models and concludes that it is crucial for girls to know female role models in STEM fields in order to break stereotypes.
At a higher level, comprehensive plans are essential to provide specific support and resources to educational institutions to eliminate gender bias that exists due to the perpetuation of gender roles. Rosa Cobo, sociologist and director of the Centre for Gender and Feminist Studies at the University of A Coruña, analyses in her article Currículum Oculto en el aula: estereotipos en acción (Hidden Curriculum in the Classroom: Stereotypes in Action) the reasons why such policies are so necessary and explains how implicit messages that devalue girls in physics and mathematics are transmitted.
In terms of promoting and valuing the presence of women in vocational training and universities, it is essential to improve collaborative plans with state and European scientific and research centres to encourage the participation of women and girls. Some examples are the GENERA plan for collaboration between physics centres to promote gender equality, and the SheFigures and GENDERACTION+ projects, which promote cooperation networks between universities and research centres.
What could be the reasons for the historical gender gap in these professional profiles?
Historically, women have had limited access to education, and until the 20th century, women were not formally allowed to enter the technical-scientific field.
In addition, the androcentric view that responds to structural inequality between men and women has rendered all potential female scientists in history invisible, highlighting only male STEM figures and their achievements.
Furthermore, throughout history, women have been assigned the role of caregivers, forged from childhood within the family unit. Boys are encouraged to play thinking and construction games, while girls are encouraged to play emotional and caring games. Although we are making progress in this regard, these mechanisms of gender construction based on sex have previously made it impossible for girls to feel drawn to the field of scientific thinking, giving rise to what Kate Millet explains in her book Sexual Politics as the ‘sexual division of labour’.
This perpetuation of gender roles in the care sector and the lack of role models make the historical gap and the temporary disadvantage imposed even more difficult to close.
How can having female role models in STEM fields influence this? Is it necessary to try to instil scientific and technological vocations in girls from an early age?
As I explained earlier, it is essential to expose girls to women who are prominent in STEM fields. In 2019, the French Institute for Public Policy estimated that 14.5% of female students aged 15 to 18 chose STEM careers after attending a series of scientific lectures on prominent women in this field. Similarly, in 2017, a report by Microsoft Europe revealed that in Germany, having female role models increased interest in choosing STEM careers by 20%.
According to The Times and the World Economic Forum, countries such as Denmark, Lithuania and Portugal have achieved a 52% presence of women scientists and engineers through comprehensive plans starting in childhood.
How do events such as International Women’s Day in Engineering or International Day of Women and Girls in Science help?
Any campaign to raise awareness is necessary and helps to eliminate the exceptional nature of the existence of women and girls in this field, celebrates their presence and helps to generate frameworks and create networks that enable us to continue reducing the existing gap.
Moving in this direction will not only help us reduce the gap in the STEM sector, but will also contribute to building a more just and democratic society in terms of real and effective equality, in which women are political subjects with lives worth living.
