Running Head: LACK OF DIVERSITY IN STEM FIELDS

Community Problem Report: Lack of Diversity in STEM Fields

Erin M. Portillo

University of Texas at El Paso

Rhetoric & Composition 1301

Professor Hernandez
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Introduction

Scientific progress and innovations relies heavily on collaboration but is much more

efficient when diverse backgrounds and experiences are incorporated. According to the Scientific

American, 10% of minority women in the United States are represented in the science,

technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) workforce as of 2014. (Guterl, 2014). While

the underrepresentation of minorities and women in science is slowly decreasing, the initial issue

of the lack of opportunity, support, and resistance remains. Although the term “diversity” differs

amongst dimensions, the most common social identities immediately judged include gender,

race/ethnicity, and nationality but may also extend to sexual orientation, socioeconomic status,

religious affiliation, and even disability status. Women face adversity due to gender norms,

implicit biases, lack of opportunities available to them.

Stereotype Threats and Implicit Biases

In the realm of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, white men and

women remain the highest represented populations, although the number of women represented

is still significantly lower than the opposing gender. Although more women are realizing their

passion for science and are pursuing careers in STEM, systemic change has not occurred to the

point where there is equal representation amongst other social identities such as races, and

ethnicities, and disability status in significant roles.

According to Dr. Hill, former vice president for research at the American Association of

University Women, one adversity women are faced with early on in their lives is the stereotype

threat. This presents a cognitive and emotional burden on the women in settings where it is
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perceived that women cannot perform on par. The presence of a stereotype threat early on in a

career is one explanation for the lack of representation in the STEM fields, Hill says (Hill, 2010).

Although some may argue that the stereotype threat is not relevant to the performance of

women in math and science, other argue that implicit biases may be more powerful as they are

unconscious beliefs that may drive assumptions made on another’s behavior. Like an

omnipresence, implicit biases affect the judgement on women in position for a leadership role in

a STEM field.

Breaking Gender Norms

When evaluating the representation of women and specifically women of color, the

majority are coming from environments of little encouragement towards women in pursuit of

STEM fields. In an article by Bastian Tzovaras in the Scientific American, he writes of the

gender inequality found in STEM which go on to affect a woman’s possibilities or opportunities

of publishing, being hired in academia, and citation counts (Tzovaras, 2017). The main concern

other than women being capable of performing their duties is women juggling being a parent and

being in a demanding STEM field. According to an article by Bystydzienski and Bird, the

pipeline theory is responsible for the lag of women in science. The pipeline theory symbolizes a

clear-cut path for life and success that women are brought up to believe in. This also includes

having children or having children by a certain age. With the expectation of women to have

children comes the lack of guidance available to female scientists on how to go about juggling

both roles (Bystydzienski, 2006).

Due to the underrepresentation in STEM, millennial women who are trying to pursue a

career in the field do not have mentors available who can mentor them through the journey of
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motherhood while being a scientist. Thus, women who want a family or even a social life are

made to feel unfit for careers as scientists. As for those who are not interested in motherhood,

they still face barriers to mentorship due to the lack of diversity in the field. The opportunity to

have a mentor in the same or similar boat or to have multiple mentors who are similar in few

ways is still not a highly available resource but can be resolved with the welcoming of diversity.

While women do not want to acknowledge the ultimatum often given to them, the academic

norms demand full attention. Scientific careers and the high achievement is associated with the

youth which is now a flaw in the system being that the optimal time for a woman to enter

motherhood coincides with the “optimal” time period for an academic science career

(Bystydzienski, 2006).

Removing Barriers to Women in STEM

Obstacles for women are embedded deeply in STEM. One recommendation is to begin

recruiting women at a young age and engage them in the sciences. When exposed to science

early in life, women are able to experience interaction with other women with similar interests

and experiences. Allowing women to join STEM fields at a young age will allow them to

understand the attention demanded by the field as well as relevant skills to their respective career

fields. Applying a growth mindset in women and institutions responsible for teaching future

scientists will increase confidence, especially when encountering challenges related to the

struggle of being underrepresented in STEM.

Another recommendation for removing barriers to women in STEM would be to develop

opportunities for minority women, especially in locations that serve mainly minority populations.

In order for young women to be able to experience STEM early on, opportunities need to be

presented and upheld for them. While some programs or scholarships may be available to
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women across the board, some may be specific to minority women only to have equal chances

for creating diversity.

Some recommendations may be focused solely on women or some may be focused on

men and the institutions responsible for hiring women in leadership roles. According to

Tzovaras, the gender split at conferences, community events, or professional events in general

are never 50:50, resulting in trending social media hashtags about the overrepresentation of men

at these events. Participation in events can be split evenly to encourage and support women in

science and allow them their platform that they have worked towards (Tzovara, 2017).

Conclusion

While not to say that increasing the amount of participation and opportunities for

underrepresented populations in STEM would solve all the problems in relation to the lack of

diversity in science but because participation numbers are of interest, the nature of why

representation is so low would be shone a light. Some remedies may have to be systematic

rather than individually although some individuals may require a change of heart or mind to

accept women in fields and positions that will diversify and challenge the nature of science,

technology, engineering, and mathematics.

References

Bystydzienski, J.M., Bird, S.R. (2006). Removing barriers: Women in academic science,

technology, engineering, and mathematics. Retrieved from http://0-

web.a.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzE3Njg1Ml9fQ

U41?sid=3c99d31f-41ab-4e58-a854-

592c4d92e327@sessionmgr4006&vid=1&format=EB&rid=1

Guterl, F. (2014, October 1). Diversity in Science: Where Are the Data? Scientific American.

Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/diversity-in-science-where-

are-the-data/

Hill, Catherine (n.d.). Why so few? Women in science, technology, engineering, and

mathematics. The American Association of University Women(AAUW). Retrieved from

https://www.aauw.org/research/why-so-few/

Pollack, E. (2015). The only woman is the room: Why science is still a boys’ club. Mathematical

Intelligencer. Retrieved from http://0-

web.b.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=24&sid=090304b8-

ee6c-47ec-ae67-ef02b74f51d8%40sessionmgr101

Purcell, C., George, N. (2017, May 5). Neuroscience with Nicole George. Superwomen in

Science. Podcast retrieved from

https://superwomeninscience.wordpress.com/2017/07/05/episode-2-neuroscience-with-

nicole-george/
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Tzovaras, B.G., (2017, October 10). How men can help women in STEM: Shut up, sit back, and

listen. Scientific American. Retrieved from

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/how-men-can-help-women-in-stem-shut-up-

sit-back-and-listen/

Wyer, M., Barbercheck, M., Giesman, D., Ozturl, H.O., Wayne, M. (2008). Women, science,

and technology: A reader in feminist science studies. Retrieved from http://0-

web.b.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzIyODUwNl9fQ

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ef02b74f51d8@sessionmgr101&vid=13&format=EB&rid=1