STEM gender gap

Today marks the 10th annual International Day of Women and Girls in Science. This occasion aims to address the significant gender gap that persists in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields across the world, despite the increasing participation of women and girls in higher education. According to data from Unesco, women make up only 35 per cent of STEM graduates. This is even though five million more girls are completing each level of education from primary to upper secondary education now than there were in 2015 and are outperforming boys in reading across all education levels and country income groups while matching their performance in mathematics. Simply put, the gender gap in STEM has resisted the increasing participation and performance of girls in education. The gap in STEM education ultimately ends up handicapping women in STEM professions, with women making up just an estimated 22 per cent of professionals in cutting-edge fields like artificial intelligence. Given how AI and other STEM fields are increasingly driving future income growth and prosperity and the development of different key facets of society such as industry, transportation, healthcare and education itself, the isolation of women in these fields spells trouble for their ability to participate meaningfully in the world of tomorrow. From a certain perspective, the increasing inclusion of girls in formal education seems like women being let into the schools of yesterday while being excluded from the technologies building the schools of the future.

This is not only a threat to women’s autonomy and equitable participation in society but also deprives STEM fields, and by extension all of society, from benefiting from the perspectives that women can bring. It also means that many of the systems that will define society going forward are more likely to have gender biases and inequality built into them. This is an outcome the world must work to prevent. One of the things that makes the STEM gender gap particularly alarming is that it is something that even the most developed societies struggle with. Countries like Pakistan, which are still struggling to even provide basic education to women and girls, thus have an even more formidable challenge when it comes to addressing the STEM gap.

As of 2021, a mere 10 per cent or fewer of women in Pakistan completed secondary school and accounted for just 24 per cent of the workforce. This disparity only gets worse as one moves up the work ladder, particularly in more technical fields. Data from the National Commission on the Status of Women shows that women occupy just 14-16 per cent of professional roles in manufacturing and services and participation is even lower in the STEM fields. Addressing this problem will require both expanding the participation of girls in education and increasing opportunities for women in STEM fields through targeted interventions and support such as scholarships and internship programmes for women pursuing STEM-related degrees or careers. Progress in this area will also depend on shedding the decades-old stereotypes that have constrained the participation of women in society. Even when it comes to educated women, there is a strain of thought that continues to believe that women are better off pursuing careers in more ‘traditional’ fields like education or healthcare. This is an attitude that needs to be confronted and corrected. The best way to do so is by showing that women can find success in STEM when given the opportunity to get there.