Women in Science: Fact on Women's Participation on STEM
One of the important issues in STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is the issue of women or gender. Women's participation in the STEM discipline is considered to be lacking. The jobs in the STEM field are still controlled by men.
I have heard of my friend's complaint in Faculty of Engineering. Incidentally he majored in Mechanical Engineering. In the lecture room, there are only a few women, according to the range is 20% female and 80% male. More male students dominate almost all majors in the Faculty of Engineering. Apparently, almost all the Faculty of Engineering in Aceh is dominated by women. I do not have any accurate data, but that's the reality here.
Furthermore, the question arises in my mind. Is it true that women are not able to take part in the field of STEM? However, I found some surprising facts. And this short article is trying to answer my question.
Lack of Women on Science
Biological differences often make one party unfairly treated in a social space. Women with various aspects of nature are always positioned in the domestic space (second class). While men are usually more positioned in public space (first class). This kind of identification is in fact the practice of gender inequality, as if the woman who takes care of the household is assumed to be incapable of dealing with issues in the public sphere concerned with the interests of the people. In fact, it is not impossible that women also have the ability to actualize themselves in the public space as well as men.[1]
In the STEM employment sector, historically still dominated by men. The gap between men and women that occurred in the past still haunts women to work in the STEM sector. Many scholars and policymakers have noted that the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM fields) have been predominantly male occupations, with historically low participation among women, from their origin in the Age of Enlightenment to the present time. STEM professions, like medicine, require higher education or training—especially in mathematics—in nearly all cases.[2]
Women remain underrepresented in the science and engineering workforce, although to a lesser degree than in the past, with the greatest disparities occurring in engineering, computer science, and the physical sciences.[3] Here are some facts that occurred in the U.S. Women make up half of the total U.S. college-educated workforce, but only 29% of the science and engineering workforce. Female scientists and engineers are concentrated in different occupations than are men, with relatively high shares of women in the social sciences (62%) and biological, agricultural, and environmental life sciences (48%) and relatively low shares in engineering (15%) and computer and mathematical sciences (25%).[3]
| Profession | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Chemist | 35.2% |
| Physicist | 11.1% |
| Environmental engineer | 33.8% |
| Chemical engineer | 22.7% |
| Civil, architectural, and sanitary engineer | 17.5% |
| Industrial engineer | 17.1% |
| Electrical or computer hardware engineer | 10.7% |
| Mechanical engineer | 7.9% |
Women chemists showed a rather large number compared to other fields. That is, there are 64.8% male chemists. However, female mechanical engineers showed very low numbers (7.9%). The data above is just a small example of how the lack of participation of women in the STEM fields. This phenomenon is not only happening in the United States which in fact is a developed country. In other countries also seen a similar phenomenon.
Lack of Women Researchers in STEM
Just 28% of researchers are women. According to UIS (Unesco Institute for Statistics) data, less than 30% of the world’s researchers are women. UIS data also show the extent to which these women work in the public, private or academic sectors, as well as their fields of research. But to truly reduce the gender gap, we must go beyond the hard numbers and identify the qualitative factors that deter women from pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).[4]
The data below shows the percentage of female researchers in some regions:
| Region | Percentage |
|---|---|
| World | 28.8% |
| Arab States | 39.9% |
| Central and Eastern Europe | 39.6% |
| Central Asia | 47.2% |
| East Asia and the Pacific | 22.9% |
| Latin America and the Caribbean | 44.7% |
| North America and Western Europe | 32.2% |
| South and West Asia | 19.0% |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 30.4% |
Central Asia seems to have gained significant numbers. Only a few percent longer can equate male researchers. However, West and South Asia still have large gaps.
Globally, women account for fewer than 30% of fractionalized authorships, whereas men represent slightly more than 70%. Women are similarly underrepresented when it comes to first authorships. For every article with a female first author, there are nearly two (1.93) articles first-authored by men.[5]
The illustration above also shows that men are still on top in terms of scientific publications.
Women and the Nobel Prize (STEM)
At least 17 women who received the Nobel Prize in science. However, there was a woman who got two Nobel Prizes in a different field, Marie Curie. By looking at the list of Nobel Prize recipients, the participation of women in science can not be underestimated. It is also evident that women are also able to compete with men in science. Here are a few women Nobel Prize recipients[6]:
| Year | Laureate | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| 1903 | Marie Curie | In recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquere |
| 1963 | Maria Goeppert Mayer | For their discoveries concerning nuclear shell structure |
| Year | Laureate | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| 1911 | Marie Curie | In recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element |
| 1935 | Irene Joliot-Curie | In recognition of their synthesis of new radioactive elements |
| 1964 | Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin | For the determinations by X-ray techniques of the structures of important biochemical substances |
| 2009 | Ada E. Yonath | For studies of the structure and function of the ribosome |
| Year | Laureate | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| 1947 | Gerty Theresa Cori | For their discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen |
| 1977 | Rosalyn Yalow | For the development of radioimmunoassays of peptide hormones |
| 1983 | Barbara McClintock | For her discovery of mobile genetic elements |
| 1986 | Rita Levi-Montalcini | For their discoveries of growth factors |
| 1988 | Gertrude B. Elion | For their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment |
| 1995 | Christiane Nusslein-Volhard | For their discoveries concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development |
| 2004 | Linda B. Buck | For their discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system |
| 2008 | Francoise Barre-Sinoussi | For their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus |
| 2009 | Elizabeth H. Blackburn | For the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase |
| 2009 | Carol W. Greider | For the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase |
| 2014 | May-Britt Moser | For their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain |
| 2015 | Youyou Tu | For her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria |
Women in SteemSTEM (Steemit Platform)
From October 22 to October 29 (see SteemSTEM Distilled 7), steemstem has curated 73 different authors who have written a total of 117 different articles. However, I have trouble identifying women Steemit users there. But clearly, the men still dominate SteemStem. I expect an increase in the participation of Steemit women users in SteemStem. Hopefully SteemStem can give priority curation to them.
Conclusion
All STEM fields are still dominated by men. But some facts show that the percentage of women almost touches the percentage of men in certain fields. It is possible in the next few years, women will be able to match male dominance. The issue of women in STEM has become the focus of policy makers. This issue must also consider the social gap between men and women in the public sphere. This social gap - unfortunately - still occurs in some countries, especially developing countries. For this reason, policy makers should also make regulations that do not discriminate against women in the public sphere.
References:
[1] https://masthoni.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/gender-dalam-sains-dan-teknologi/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_STEM_fields
[3] https://ngcproject.org/statistics
[4] http://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/women-science
[5] http://www.nature.com/news/bibliometrics-global-gender-disparities-in-science-1.14321
[6] https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/women.html
It is not a matter of men domination. We actually do not care about the male/female character of the various authors of the articles we upvote. Moreover, we are on the internet: how could be be sure about the gender of the author? There is no way we can know for sure.
This being said, I would like to reinsure you: we vote for the articles that we find and that are good. That's it. Nothing less, nothing more. If the author is a man, fair enough. if the author is a woman, fair enough too.
I am totally against introducing diversity criteria in the way we curate. There is no reason for that. We are not hiring people. We are curating good blog posts on STEM and trying to motivate people (women and men) to write good posts on STEM.
If you really want to fight for gender equality, please visit toy department of any supermarket. This already says a lot... SteemSTEM is totally not where you should start acting.
To summarize, as said above, we focus on good posts. Writing a good post is something both a man or a woman can do equally well.
PS: 50% of the steemstem curation team consists of women and 20% of the steemstem management team consists of women.
PS2: I was about to answer about the women in science question, but this allusion to steemstem which I can't understand made me change my mind...
I am not insinuating steemstem. This is more to my personal expectations. I just want to know how women can participate in steemstem.
Here all got a chance. Good writing is worth curating, both male and female. My assumption, there may be some Steemian women who do not know about steemstem yet.
Male dominance does happen here. But this is not a conclusion to discredit steemstem. I hope you did not misunderstand it.
There is not male dominance. How can it be as we do not know the gender of the authors? This makes no sense.
Okay. I'm not debating here. Steemstem has done a great job here. I include "Women in Steemstem", just to know the women who participated here. I can not recognize them from the account name. I know you too. I also know how steemstem works.
Well, you are actually debating as you have attacked steemstem from the start, on the basis of false grounds... If you don't know, you don't say a word and stay calm...
In this case, you actually don't know...
So, do you think I should remove the "part"? I will do it.
We have a female curator in steemSTEM and I'm a female management member. I'm sure that there are several women steemSTEM votes on too, at least I've seen many in the past.
Rewarding them extra is dumb, that's not equality. The true equality here is that they're treated exactly like the men. Their content is judged, not their gender.
The reason for men "dominating" steemSTEM is probably tied to the fact that men in general make up a bigger percentage of steemit users. It's just statistics.
My mistake here (I admit) is to write about "Women in SteemStem". As @justtryme90 mentioned, "You do not have a fucking clue what you are talking about".
Previously, I have thrown this discourse to the forum on channel steemstem. I did not find an answer. So, it looks like they came out of the "nest" to criticize it. I'm impressed.
From some of the criticisms I received, I concluded: "Everyone is free to contribute to steemstem with good qualifications. Male and female". The sub I admit are out of context. Looks ambiguous.
FYI for other readers regarding 'did not find an answer'
It does not look like a directional answer. Which I understand.
Your question: I'm looking for how many female writers in steemSTEM. Just that!
Our answer: We don't know, gender isn't important and everybody is welcome.
I think that's pretty clear, no?
All right, I relent. Nothing else to say.
We did not WANT to discuss that because it is not relevant to how the project functions. There is no bias to our selection of people's posts because there is no way to know someone's gender unless they give that information. That said, a lot of people have told me who they are, in confidence, and I will not disclose information to YOU that people may not want to be public as steemit is somewhat of an anonymous forum.
Their disclosure does not effect in any way how the project functions to select good content. Man, woman, neither, alien, dog, I do not have any preferences so long as they are creating well sourced, cited, interesting posts.
You don't have a fucking clue what you are talking about.
"Hopefully SteemStem can give priority curation to them."
Why?
The first reason is motivation. Women who get support from steemstem will continue to write science articles. In addition, they can also invite their colleagues (at work or on campus) to participate in steemstem. I think promoting steemstem to Steemian women is one way to support STEM education. Women are one of the major issues in STEM education.
Awesome. I suggest you to start doing what you preach and donate all the money you make from your posts (starting from this one) to women writting about stem. Here's two of them: @suesa and @ruth-girl
I support this :P
@teukumukhlis: please follow this idea! or to @kerriknox too.
We can motivate them, but that does not mean we can pity them. This article only explains some of the facts I get. If some people feel offended, maybe just a different point of view. I accept criticisms for my article improvement.
Thank you!
May I speak as a woman? Steemit is a crypto platform, men usually deal with such things (let's not get into the loooong discussion about gender-based interests, I've had enough of that at university).
Secondly, most women accounts promote easily digested topics (photo, beauty, layman psychology, cause in this world that's what advertising feeds us).
Thirdly, an online profile can hide any gender behind it (I could be named bobby around here and still have an XX chromosome pair).
Also, it's at least rude to point out that steemstem doesn't support us, we have pretty bright examples of steemstem-women, @abigail-dantes, @irime, @laylasophia, @suesa, are just the top ones (IMO).
So, the next time you jump to a conclusion, consider all the factors that lead to a situation, try to justify it based on all the parameters and don't just pitty women cause all the SJW fuss says it's the right thing to do. In third world countries, yes, women are left out, but in the modern world the opportunities are plenty.
So, if you give more money to women blogging about STEM out of your pocket it's pity. If SteemStem does that, it's motivation! Do you see the hypocrisy in that?
Of course you do, but you don't want to point that out. Because the first directly impacts yourself while the other not only doesn't impact you but also makes you (in your mind) sound like the good, white knight who had the brilliant idea to think of the poor women.
Personally, if I was a woman, I would definitely be offended if some guy was asking people to pay me more just because I was born with a vagina.
Perhaps that's why you were born as a man!
Of course you know... As said by @justtryme90, you have no clue what you are talking about. I am done with this discussion. My time is precious...
Yeah! Me too! ^_^
This makes no sense. Did you have a careful look to the science category? We need to motivate people in general to write good STEM posts...
We don't care about the person being a male or a female. On the same ground, we ignore the author's race, religion, etc. We are promoting good STEM content. We are promoting good STEM authors. That's it. No positive and no negative discrimination ever. We are not a funding agency. We are not a hiring committee.
You assumption is also ridiculous: please demonstrate why a woman writing a post on STEM would necessarily work on a campus?
I disagree. First, show me how steemit contribute to education in STEM? This is a big flaw in your reasoning.
Sure, it is an issue. Major issue? Why? Moreover, committees are well aware of this. Believe me. Things are moving in the right direction by don't expect things to change in no time.
Right @lemouth, gender, gender, gender, we've come to forget about the person and only care about genitalia and hormones
Very good post! I like this analysis. Wonderful job done on the analysis.
wow, full of data and details, it seems feminist activists should read this post
go women go :)
😷😷😷
Alhamdulillah, hana rugoe taduek trep beuklam. Hehe.
very good post information !!! Participation on STEEM!!
Thank you!
excellent, very completed of data
I simply love your articles, what great content and quality of posting you offer the community here on Steemit and abroad.
Thanks a lot :)
I do not see this as a form of attack against steemstem, but rather to motivate women writers to be more active in the field of STEM, the theoretical only provide data and processed by writing different perspectives
I really appreciate the difference of opinion you give to me
although he ( @teukumukhlis ) did not claim to know exactly how many women writers are curated by steemstem
as an engineer, I would also consider statistical data even though the reality is different.
what can be inferred from this difference of opinion "it is time for women writers to be more active in the field of STEM" or will more @teukumukhlis others who will start criticizing.
I will not speak harshly, because language actually reflects the level of intellect
thanks again for giving me a different view that I had not thought of before
@lemouth, @justtryme90,
@suesa, @ruth-girl and @trumpman thank you for your valuable explanation and explain how steemstem works :)
steem on