Traditionally, the logic for addressing the gender gap in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) has been from the lens of equality, inclusion and bridging the gender pay gap. It was also encouraged from a diversity perspective. With the exponential growth of technology and digitisation, STEM fields today are driving research and innovation that impacts everyday lives. An underrepresentation of women within the field will drastically skew solutions to be inherently unequal.
Research has shown that women have been historically under-represented in clinical trials, leading to medical treatments having higher chances of being ineffective for women. This is also reflective of the proportion of time and resources being spent on innovating and solving for issues affecting women in particular. A key example of this is the lack of an effective treatment plan for menstrual cramps, even in this day and age. More women in STEM driving research, innovation and technological advancement will help balance the biases that come from having homogeneous teams working on problem solving. Women driving research for women ensures solutions and innovations are mindful and responsive to the needs of women, and encourages keeping problems faced by women at the centre of innovation and research.
Unfortunately, STEM fields continue to be dominated by men. In a world dominated by technology and digitization, women constitute only 28.8 percent of STEM workers as a global average, while in India it is an abysmal 14 per cent. According to UNESCO, women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) are published less, paid less for their research and do not advance as far as men in their careers. Even the Nobel Prize, in its 120-year history, has only been awarded to 57 women, with Marie Curie being the only woman to have won this honor twice.
The findings of a 2017 UN report further highlights a number of barriers that contribute to an increasing gender gap in technology and innovation, which includes limited market awareness and investment in innovations that meet the needs of women, a gender-blind approach to innovation, underrepresentation and perceived high-risk, low-reward profile of investing in innovations for women and girls, particularly from marginalised groups.
Education can play a critical role in addressing this gap, as evidenced by the numerous programs to encourage more girls to pursue STEM fields by governments, industry and development organisations across the world.
However, in India, despite gains in access to education for girls, high dropout rates and a social tendency to steer girls towards stereotypical female occupations persists. In professional courses, only 40 per cent of students in Bachelors of Technology (B.Tech.) courses are women. This number drops to 34 per cent for Bachelor of Engineering courses.
These indicators stress the need for systemic changes that will help bring more women to the forefront of innovation in STEM fields. It calls for augmenting support for educational choices by providing increased access to opportunities and knowledge of possibilities, creating support networks, and creating policy environments to bring and sustain more women in STEM.
A research has found that parental attitudes to girls pursuing STEM education and careers, family income or assets and the presence or absence of boys in the same family heavily influenced the potential and application of girls in STEM careers. Another important enabler is the presence of more local and relatable women role models.
Enabling and encouraging girls in STEM requires targeted involvement and action from multiple stakeholders to create sustainable change. It is important for us to understand the need for more women in STEM and help build a more equitable and humane future where women stake an equal claim.
The writer is Aakash Sethi, CEO Quest Alliance