Why do we need more Women In STEM?

Recognition, Reputation and Remuneration are the three basic requirements for a person to produce value as a part of any social system. When one of these is compromised disproportionately for some sections of society, the imbalance further worsens the power disparity that caused such an infraction against the social contract in the first place. As of today, more and more industries are integrated in terms of gender distribution but most are still quite segregated.

The reasons for these are many and shall be dealt with in future blogs. In this segment, let us focus on the need for more women’s participation in STEM areas. India fares better than most countries when it comes to the number of graduates produced every year standing at 43% women graduates. Although one of the best representations in the world, the number plummets to 14% in research institutes. This pales even in the light of 33% representation in the global research community which by itself is sorely inadequate. Due to different layers of stigma, societal norms and unfair treatment, women tend to choose different career paths or dropout of their careers. This is an immense loss to the scientific community in all when opinions go unheard, questions go unanswered and perspectives are over shadowed. Diversity is essential to the scientific and technological enterprise’s success. Scientists and STEM professionals work on some of the world’s most difficult problems. Individual effort or homogeneous teams rarely find solutions to such problems. Rather, they demand a variety of problem-solving perspectives and approaches. Diversity is essential for innovation as well as the advancement of science, technology, and the economy. If so, then what are the hurdles? Primarily, women lack the inspiration that the presence of a role model provides at different stages in life. Since 1903, 23 women have won the Nobel Prize in the fields of Physics, Chemistry and Medicine while the number stands at 606 for men. Role models give us the confidence that what they have done is achievable by others alike. It is difficult for young adults to pursue supposedly untreaded paths given the systemic barriers that surround them. It is evident that encouragement and mentoring of talent cultivates gender diversity in STEM. To be more specific, mentoring efforts for women are more fruitful when they are led by women. Therefore, beyond the participation which needs to be ramped up, exposure of female role models is equally important in motivating STEM professionals. Female engineering undergraduates who were paired with female mentors reported more motivation, self-assurance, and reduced anxiety than those who had no mentor or a male mentor, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Massachusetts a few years ago. They were also less likely to drop out of school and more enthusiastic about pursuing engineering careers after graduation. The effects of such a gender disparity are quite direct and sometimes reflect in outer domains too. For instance, the medical sciences for many years developed practices at the expense of but that do not benefit the female anatomy

Today, we are slowly understanding how female bodies respond differently to certain diseases and medication. Inaccuracies in medical research seep into the society causing prejudice, misconceptions, and for some, reasons to justify their hate. Representation gets our voices through and inspires change. Although women in general face hurdles of the same nature, due to intersectionality we all experience them differently. The more that a group is represented, more than proportionate the impact shall be. For India, there are more direct consequences. A country where educating the vast majority is a humongous task by itself, we can not afford to let the acquired talent seep through the cracks. STEM is very pertinent to the Indian economy. In 2017, India’s information technology sector generated $180 billion in revenue, accounting for 7.7% of the country’s GDP. From 2014 to 2019, it also created 8.73 lakh jobs. India also has a thriving tech start-up ecosystem with over 8,900 businesses, and Indian research institutes are able to produce ground breaking work in a variety of STEM fields. This growth can be expedited by bridging the gender gap. Simply reducing the gap has shown excellent results in many industries over the years. Scientific and technological progress are linked to economic growth. However, this is contingent on having a productive and thus more gender-diverse workforce. Last year, the International Labour Organization of the United Nations published a study that surveyed 13,000 companies in 70 countries and found that companies with more gender diversity in their management reported significant profit increases. This is the case because of a more balanced environment that fosters more thoughtful and considerate decision making and prevents lop-sided policies that adversely affect productivity. Three-quarters of the businesses polled said their profits increased by five to twenty percent. Furthermore, 57% of respondents believed that having more women in top management increased talent attraction and retention. It also improved the organization’s reputation by increasing innovation, creativity, and openness. The study also looked at data from 186 countries from 1991 to 2017 and discovered that increasing women’s employment was linked to increased national economic growth. The necessity of female participation is not contingent on the value that it produces. It is understandable that in a capitalist society, one’s value is ascribed to their productivity and this idea is not only inaccurate but socially problematic. Upon observing the skewness in data, one must question the ethicality of the cause of such a shift from the population’s median. If the barriers to achieve such equality in opportunity are reduced, it could bring us to a truly just society that can surely cause a ripple effect of change. A lot is being meant to increase the participation of women in STEM fields. To successfully handle the concerns, we now require more coordination. With more women graduating and pursuing careers in STEM fields, it is critical to provide the necessary support. It’s the only way to ensure gender equality and empower women to achieve their dreams