MORABITO: Despite federal push for women in STEM, academic interests still vary between the genders
The Council of Graduate Schools found that, in fall 2020, most new enrollees in non-health related STEM fields were men.
More than 3 out of every 4 new students in graduate education and health sciences programs were women.
A new study shows huge gender imbalances among different graduate fields of study, with more women studying subjects like health sciences and education and more men pursuing graduate degrees in engineering and business.
The Council of Graduate Schools issued a report on the demographics and fields of study of students who entered graduate degree programs for the first time in the fall of 2020. Men made up 70.7 percent of those who began engineering programs, 66.4 percent of those who began mathematics and computer sciences programs, 55.7 percent of those who began physical and earth sciences programs, and 53.1 percent of those who began business programs.
Women, however, made up more than 3 of every 4 new enrollees in education, health sciences, and public administration and services programs.
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The federal government has devoted substantial resources to fix the supposed problem of a gender gap in specific fields of study. Since 2009, the federal government has allocated $84.8 million in grant funding to increase domestic STEM participation among women and other underrepresented groups and to study the gender gap in these fields.
Since then, the gender gap has shrunk only slightly. In 2009, women made up 24 percent of the nation’s STEM workforce, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. In 2019, women were 27 percent of the STEM workforce, per the U.S. Census Bureau.
Overall, women still have a strong numerical advantage over men in beginning their graduate studies. More than 60 percent of first-time graduate level enrollees in fall 2020 were women. This echoes the gender imbalance seen at the undergraduate level. Data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows that, in fall 2020, women made up 59.4 percent of college students, and men made up only 40.6 percent. Though women are the minority within some subject areas, they are still the majority of both undergraduate and graduate students overall.
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Studies have shown that preferences, not sexism, may cause the gender imbalance in different fields of study. A 2018 study published in the journal Science examined data from 80,000 people in 76 countries and found that “the more that women have equal opportunities, the more they differ from men in their preferences.” The study looked at six preferences: “willingness to take risks, patience, altruism, positive and negative reciprocity, and trust,” and it found that the greater economic prosperity and gender equality in a society, the more likely men and women in that society were to hold different preferences.
Similarly, a 2009 meta-analysis of prior research found “that men prefer working with things and women prefer working with people,” leading to substantial differences in vocational preferences between the genders. Researchers wrote, “The present study suggests that interests may play a critical role in gendered occupational choices and gender disparity in the STEM fields.”
Female STEM students tell Campus Reform that the gender disparity in their field does not cause them concern. Campus Reform Correspondent Katarina McCann, a biology major at Radford University, said, “I think the gender imbalance is simply because a lot of women just are not interested in being doctors or being a biomechanical engineer. I don’t think it has anything systemic to do with it, it’s just how it naturally happens to be.” McCann says she is not interested in pursuing graduate studies and would rather begin her career instead. She said, “If getting a bachelors took less than 4 years, then I would have no problem going further into a graduate program. I probably wouldn’t burn out as fast as I have now.”
Addison Pummill, a Campus Reform senior correspondent, is studying computer information systems at the University of Arkansas. She plans to attend graduate school, and she says a government program helped lead her to a STEM field. “When I was in high school,” she said, “the Arkansas state government was offering $750 to students who took Computer Science A. I was already planning on majoring in STEM, but the incentives offered by the government persuaded me to take the computer class, which further solidified my decision.” The incentive program was open to all students, not just women or those from other underrepresented groups.
Pummill says, “I do not think the gender imbalance in the field of Information Systems is caused by sexism, even though that is what certain government officials would have us believe. I have always been a very math-minded student, so it made sense to follow a career path that lets me develop and show off those strengths...Women should be allowed to follow a career path that allows them to express their personal preferences, and most of the time, that means choosing a non-STEM field of study. I think most women just prefer jobs in other industries, such as health sciences and education, which should be perfectly acceptable!”
The federal push for women in STEM shows no signs of slowing down: At press time, the federal government had several open grants for projects aimed at recruiting and sustaining members of underrepresented groups in STEM fields.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @AngelaLMorabito
