Highlighting Women in Tech Could Help Diversify S&T Workforce, According to Study

Lack of female role models is a key deterrant for women cosnidering entry in S&T fields, according to a recent study. Sociology professor Dr. Catherine Riegle-Crumb of the Population Research Center at the University of Texas investigated why there are comparatively few women compared to men in technology and other STEM fields.

Dr. Riegle-Crumb is the principle investigator on an NSF grant to study how high school academic preparation has an influence on the selection of a STEM major in college – which would imply a post-collegiate career in a STEM field.  As part of this grant, Dr. Riegle-Crumb followed 10,000 high school students and found that the gender gap in high school physics, used as a proxy for this scientific gender gap as a whole, varies across the country.  Indeed, in some regions there are more girls in physics classes than boys. Why?

After controlling for a number of variables, including family income and educational attainment and school district location (i.e., suburban compared to inner-city), one correlation began to emerge.  Dr. Riegle-Crumb from the NPR interview: “In communities that had a higher percentage of women in the labor force who are working in science, technology, engineering and math, in those schools girls were as likely as boys to take physics or even more likely.”

Her study concludes that there is a cyclical explanation for why young girls do not go into tech fields. Because there are fewer local female role models in technology for girls to identify with, or at least are not exposed to these kinds of role models, they are less likely to go into technological studies and careers themselves, which passes the problem onto subsequent generations of girls. In short, there are fewer women in technology careers because there are fewer women in technology careers.

This research would suggest that local programs that highlight successful women in the region and community would help spur the next generation of girls into pursuing an educational path in the STEM fields, which could then in turn lead to a career in science and technology. These programs should originate not only from the public sector, but also private industry and regional economic development organizations.

As we showed in the March 27, 2013, Digest, there are plenty of women leaders in the technology field for high school and college women to aspire to emulate.  However, although the administration has made efforts at encouraging women to move toward STEM careers, state STEM education legislation often have not included specific provisions for increasing female participation.

The SSTI annual conference in Portland, Oregon, from September 15-17 includes the Better Engagement of Higher Education track, which was highlighted in the August 7 Digest. These sessions will explore and discuss the role higher education has in TBED and a regional innovation system, and perhaps find a solution for promoting and growing the population of female technology practitioners.