5003606-3

The Thorns of STEM

Up until my junior year of high school, I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up.

As a child, I would picture my future self and the possibilities were endless. At first, I wanted to

be a teacher, then I wanted to be a real estate agent, then I wanted to be a lawyer. I only knew

one thing for sure: I did not want a job that had anything to do with STEM.

My whole life, I had kept my distance from the idea of having a job in the fields of

science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. I grew up with a stay-at-home-mom and a

father who had worked in customer service for over 30 years. The idea of STEM was foreign to

me. I did not think I was capable of majoring in any of the notoriously difficult subjects STEM is

composed of. When I pictured a doctor or a scientist, the first image to come to my mind was an

old man in a lab coat. In second grade, there was a day that all the students dressed up as what

they wanted to be when they grew up. The girls in the class dressed up as teachers, ballerinas,

and nurses. The boys were doctors, astronauts, and scientists. I didn’t notice at the time, but from

that young age of 7, it had already been ingrained in my mind that I was destined for a

stereotypically feminine job.

Before the pandemic shut down the country, I had planned to go to college and major in

education. I had no connection to education at all, but people around me told me that I would be

good at it. Once COVID-19 hit, I found myself with a lot of free time. A few of my classes

integrated lessons from Khan Academy, and I noticed that there were some free programming

courses on there as well. On a whim, I decided to try a few of those courses out even though

programming had never previously crossed my mind. From the first lesson, I was hooked. It was

like everything had fallen into place. This was what I wanted to do with my life. This was what

1
 5003606-3

made me genuinely excited and interested in learning more. I wondered how I had not found

programming sooner.

After about six months of teaching myself programming through Khan Academy and

other free websites, my mind was made up that I was going to major in computer science. Many

of my friends and family members were shocked by this and I realized that I could not think of

any females around me that were majoring in computer science, but I could think of a whole list

of males. In fact, I could count the number of females I knew who were planning to major in a

STEM subject on my fingers. The lack of women headed to STEM-related majors around me led

me to develop my senior project question: What environmental reasons affect the number of

women pursuing a career in STEM?

STEM is an acronym for the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math; these

are four subjects that are number-oriented and are commonly regarded as the toughest fields to

work in. Consisting of complex calculations and formulas, STEM requires dedication and

advanced technical skills which explains why it tends to be flooded by higher-achieving students

(Kennedy et. al). However, STEM has always been male-dominated despite there being similar

numbers of bright female minds throughout the world. There are many explanations as to why

this is, including a lack of female role models and stereotyping and discrimination against

women in these industries (Beede et al.) as well as influences from teachers and family as a child

and embedded differences between the aspirations of men and women.

A majority of someone’s personality is formed as a child. Their interests, levels of

confidence, and habits are formed while a person is still in their K-12 education (Robelen).

Children are observant of those around them and are largely influenced by the mentoring figures

in their lives such as parents and teachers. A child’s perception of their mentoring figures shapes

2
 5003606-3

how the child will choose to face adversity and how they will see themselves in terms of their

role in society (Lakind et al. 58). The actions and opinions of such figures during these

significant years of one’s life can have substantial effects on whether a girl may choose to pursue

STEM or not. According to Shulamit Kahn and Donna Ginther, two female researchers who

specifically pertain to women in economics and STEM, “If mothers held gendered stereotypes,

their rating of their daughter’s ability was lower than would have been predicted by the teacher’s

evaluation of ability.” When mothers have ingrained biases against their own daughter’s ability,

it is bound to influence how the young girl sees herself. This causes many girls to underestimate

themselves and avoid STEM because they do not believe they have the skills necessary to

succeed in those fields. Kahn and Ginther found that girls with female teachers who had

underperformed in math tended to also have lower achievement in math and believe that boys

were better at math whereas girls excelled at reading. Lakind et al., mental health researchers,

found that children hold their superiors in very high esteem and therefore take with them the

opinions they have observed past childhood.

Adolescence is when many young people decide what direction they would like to go in

for their future. These decisions can be heavily influenced by the experiences they have with the

teachers who specialize in fields they are considering. A reason that many girls are steered away

from STEM does not come from negative experiences with STEM professors, but rather from

the criticizing of STEM that comes from other professors. Barbara Oakley, a professor of

engineering at Oakland University recalls her experience with colleagues who would denounce

STEM with little experience:

I'm sometimes flabbergasted at the level of bias and antagonism toward STEM from

professors outside scientific fields. I've heard it all: STEM is only for those who enjoy

3
 5003606-3

"rote" work. Engineering is not creative. There's only one right answer. You'll live your

life in a cubicle. It's dehumanizing. You'll never talk to anyone. And, of course, it's sexist.

All this from professors whose only substantive experience with STEM is a forced march

through a single statistics course in college, if that.

These negative perceptions held by these professors pass on to their students who otherwise

would have considered STEM as a viable option for themselves. Because of teachers like this,

many students never give STEM a second thought. Oakley continues to state that many students

are influenced by their professors that by going to STEM, they will be wasting their talents such

as writing and be doomed to “just sit in a cubicle crunching numbers.” Instead of teaching

children to fear STEM, parents and teachers have to offer them the support they need to explore

any and all career possibilities. These influential figures should be there to discuss and guide the

child through any aspects of STEM that make them nervous (Gender Stereotype).

Although sexism against women has drastically decreased over the years, it is ever so

apparent in this society. Specifically, in the fields of STEM, stereotypes and discrimination are

still commonplace. In many cases, these stereotypes are ingrained into the impressionable young

minds of school-aged boys and girls. These children are told that “girls belong in the kitchen,”

and “girls are bad at math,” resulting in a long-lasting impression of what they believe women

are capable of (Gender Stereotype). Not only does this affect the perception of girls in their own

eyes, but in the eyes of boys as well. This leads to teasing and harassment of girls who want to

look into STEM which discourages many young girls from trying it out. Health reporter Amy

Paturel found that whenever a female tells someone they want to be a doctor, for example, they

are warned of how much work it is and deterred from pursuing this career, but when a male says

the same thing, they are praised and congratulated on their decision. The reality is that even in

4
 5003606-3

today’s society, women are expected to be homemakers and raise children while a man is out

working and making money (Robelen). In the time-consuming careers of science, technology,

engineering, and math, women are criticized for spending their time working instead of staying

at home and taking care of children, but men are rarely judged for doing the same thing (Paturel).

It has become a normalized part of life for a long time, but this is changing as more and more

families break free from these stereotypes and more working mothers and stay-at-home-dads

appear.

STEM has a reputation for the mistreatment of women by their peers which also

convinces many women to avoid the field. In 2017, Uber, one of the leading technology

companies, made front-page news regarding several sexual harassment scandals (Shen). This is

the type of experience that no woman wants to have, but unfortunately many women in STEM

encounter during their career. Elizabeth Adamowicz, a biology professor at the University of

Minnesota, comments that, “...gender derogation in lab and work cultures...create a cumulative

‘glass obstacle course’ that makes it much more difficult for women to succeed in STEM

academic careers then men.” This statement holds true for many women who have clear personal

and professional goals, but are hindered by the obstacles preventing them from getting there. “In

2002 we had layoffs at work,” recalls current software engineer Maya Levy Meruk. “Managers

were forced to provide low performance feedback. Since I was pregnant with my daughter Lior,

and it was against the law to fire me, my managers gave me low performance feedback. I

appealed and my appeal was accepted.” This story is not a rare occurrence. Women are not

accommodated in an equitable fashion in these demanding fields, and many women who want to

have families fear that what happened to Levy Meruk could happen to them. STEM does not

have an inviting presence for women and can be daunting to enter and unsafe to stay in.

5
 5003606-3

One of the reasons why STEM is not an inviting place for women is the fact that the

representation of women in STEM is severely lacking. For example, in Chicago in 2017, only

around 22% of the technology jobs there were held by women. Girls do not have as many role

models to look up to in these fields when compared to boys. Even in media, where roles for men

and women are generally equal, when depicting the fields of STEM in television shows and

movies, women are outnumbered by men by nearly two to one (Marotti). This subconsciously

discourages girls from pursuing careers in STEM. People tend to mimic what they see in front of

them, whether it be family, friends, or media, while they are growing up. If young girls always

see women being teachers and nurses while the men are doctors and scientists, they are going to

subconsciously store that in their brain. Because they do not see enough other people of their

gender working within science, technology, engineering, or math, it is easier for many girls to

default to a career in the humanities. That is what they have seen that women are good at. Even

many women who do end up in STEM do not plan to stay there for long. Almost a third of

women in the U.S. who are working in STEM plan to quit their jobs within the year and around

20% of women in Brazil and India (Shen). Societal pressures and discrimination in the

workplace can make it burdensome for women to work in STEM for very long.

Tal Levy Meruk, a current software engineer at Salesforce sees that only around 30% of

the people he works with are women and that a majority of those women are from outside the

U.S., such as China and India where the gender gap is not as apparent as it is in the U.S. The

effects of these discrepancies are detrimental to the number of women going into STEM. In a

survey done in 2017, researchers found that when surrounded by more women, participation and

motivation in females rose significantly (Adamowicz). When surrounded by mostly men, women

may exclude themselves and feel pressure to conform in group activities and discussions because

6
 5003606-3

they are representing women and do not want to experience more discrimination (Bernstein et

al.) These experiences happen to many girls taking STEM classes in high school and intimidates

them, turning them away from majoring in any of these fields. The underrepresentation of

women in STEM assuredly hinders a potential increase of representation and it becomes an

endless cycle of discouraging women from STEM.

The low number of women in STEM can also be attributed to general differences

between how men and women think and what they want. Author, philosopher, and feminist

Christina Sommers quotes autism specialist Simon Baron-Cohen who claims that generally, men

are wired to be sympathizers while women are empathizers. This causes them to make different

choices and want different things for themselves. An example of this is the case of raising a

family. STEM careers are less accommodating to those who are in and out of work to raise their

family (Beede et al.). In most occasions, empathetic women will want to be at home with their

children while the sympathetic men are more likely to continue their work while their families

are at home. For a large number of women, this is a factor that they cannot move past. Tal Levy

Meruk agrees that, “Tech careers are considered demanding (working for long hours, work under

pressure). This could discourage women who seek work life balance and an opportunity to be

with the kids more.” Another deciding factor is that, “Women place more value on collegiality

and positive interactions, opportunities to collaborate and interact professionally with senior

colleagues, and female representation on the faculty than do men,” (Bernstein et al.). The women

who value this type of workplace find that they have more of what they value in different fields.

Some women are naturally uninterested in STEM, contributing further to the gender gap

in these careers. Maya Levy Meruk speculates that because girls are taught to focus on soft skills

and can find math challenging, they instead opt for careers such as HR, Law, Education, or Sales.

7
 5003606-3

Research has shown that even girls who enjoy and excel at math are still less likely to choose a

STEM major than a boy (Marklein). Although there are many women who are just as talented in

science, technology, engineering, or math as their male counterparts, some girls just do not want

to have a career in any of these fields. A possible reason for their disinterest is that women have

different aspirations than men (Marklein). Tal Levy Meruk points out that a majority of women

like to work with people, which leads them to careers such as service and education. Although

there can be careers within STEM that involve a lot of collaboration, generally that collaboration

is within the employees of a company and does not allow for a wide variety of meeting new

people. In careers such as education and services, there are new people that the workers get to be

exposed to everyday or every year. This is much more appealing to any women who prefer to be

around people more often than having a STEM job.

There is an abundance of reasons one could attribute the gap in the number of women and

men in STEM. The nature of our society and the history of stereotyping and discrimination in

these fields have contributed their fair share. The influences of parents, teachers, and media also

have caused many girls to opt for a different career path then STEM. Whatever the causes, this

gap should be closed. Our society should be actively looking for ways to make STEM more

inclusive for women and prevent the mistreatment of them in the workplace.

Although there are some girls who do not pursue STEM because it disinterests them,

there are also many girls who do not pursue STEM because they are never exposed to it. Because

of the underrepresentation in these types of jobs and how these jobs are portrayed in the media,

there are so many girls who never find out how broad STEM really is. There are required math

and science courses starting from a young age all the way up to high school before a girl must

choose her career path, but what about technology and engineering? My experience in high

8
 5003606-3

school was that although these classes were offered, they were never required or promoted to the

students. I regretfully never chose to take an engineering or computer science class and it is one

of my biggest regrets from high school. I believe that if young girls were actually exposed to

more of STEM from a young age, that the gender gap would not be so apparent. I was lucky

enough to find my passion for technology on my own, but I worry that there are girls who have

no idea the opportunities they are missing. This is why I have decided to host online Zoom

courses for girls in my neighborhood to teach them the basics of coding. Coding is honestly one

of the most useful skills to have that employers are constantly looking for. Not only that, but

coding can actually be fun. I hope to help these girls fall in love with coding as I have, and even

if they do not, I will be content knowing that they were at least given the chance and if they

choose not to continue a path in STEM, that it was their own choice and not society telling them

they shouldn’t.

9
 5003606-3

Works Cited

Adamowicz, Elizabeth M. "Why Aren't Women Choosing STEM Academic Jobs? Observations

From a Small-Group Discussion at the 2016 American Society for Microbiology Annual

Meeting." OUP Academic, 15 Mar. 2017,

academic.oup.com/femsle/article/364/6/fnx057/3071825?login=true.

Beede, David N., et al. “Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation.” Economics and

Statistics Administration, 2011, doi:10.2139/ssrn.1964782.

Bernstein, Bianca, et al. The Psychology of Women at Work: Challenges and Solutions for Our

Female Workforce. Volume 2: Obstacles and the Identity Juggle. Vol. 2, Praeger

Perspectives, 2008,

images-insite.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/dunia_buku/koleksi-buku-lainnya/the-psychol

ogy-of-women-at-work-challenges-and-solutions-for-our-female-workforce-volume-2-ob

stacles-and-the-identity-juggle-pdfdrivecom-93911581191305.pdf#page=18.

Gender Stereotype, Girls and Science Education. 2019. SIRS Issues Researcher,

https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2265924183?accountid=1938

03.

Kahn, Shulamit, and Donna Ginther. “Women and STEM.” NBER Working Paper Series, 2017,

doi:10.3386/w23525.

Kennedy, Brian, et al. “Half of Americans Think Young People Don’t Pursue STEM Because It

Is Too Hard.” Pew Research Center, 17 Jan. 2018,

www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/17/half-of-americans-think-young-people-dont-

pursue-stem-because-it-is-too-hard.

10
 5003606-3

Lakind, Davielle, et al. “Youth Mentoring Relationships in Context: Mentor Perceptions of

Youth, Environment, and the Mentor Role.” Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 53,

2015, pp. 52–60. Crossref, doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.03.007.

Levy Meruk, Maya. Software Engineer. Personal Interview. 25 March 2021.

Levy Meruk, Tal. Software Engineer. Personal Interview. 25 March 2021.

Marklein, Mary B. "Science Fields Battle Gender Gap." USA TODAY, 02 Aug 2012. SIRS

Issues Researcher,

https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2265697144?accountid=1938

03.

Marotti, Ally. "On TV and in Movies, Men Outnumber Women nearly 2-to-1 in STEM Roles."

TCA Regional News, 27 Sep 2018. SIRS Issues Researcher,

https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2264384277?accountid=1938

03.

Oakley, Barbara. "Why do Women Shun STEM? It's Complicated." Wall Street Journal, 14 Jul

2018. SIRS Issues Researcher,

https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2266081054?accountid=1938

03.

Paturel, Amy. “Why Women Leave Medicine.” AAMC, 2 Oct. 2019,

www.aamc.org/news-insights/why-women-leave-medicine.

Robelen, Erik W. "Gender Gaps Persist in STEM Education." Education Week, 13 Jun 2012.

SIRS Issues Researcher,

https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2266791645?accountid=1938

03.

11
 5003606-3

Shen, Anna. Gender Equality? It's Still a Man's World. , 2017. SIRS Issues Researcher,

https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2265800629?accountid=1938

03.

Sommers, Christina H. "Why Can't a Woman Be More Like a Man?" The American, March

2008. SIRS Issues Researcher,

https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2267900136?accountid=1938

03.

12