Increasing Women in STEM
Over the years there has been the need to increase the number of women in STEM-related jobs, a move that has intensified because of the need to have a win-win situation (Diekman, et al 2010, p. 1051). That is, the society would benefit from having several STEM specialists in the workforce while women get to have higher-status employment. According to Blackburn, (2017, p. 235), women in STEM have been reported to experience various challenges unlike other women with degrees, including multiple incidences of unemployment and higher levels of job dissatisfaction.
Gender Gap in STEM Degrees
In a recent report published by the Women in New South Wales (NSW) unit of Department of Health in Australia, the majority of those that complete undergraduate degrees in STEM were men. The higher number of men rather than women was contrary to the multiple state-funded programs developed and founded to narrow the gap. The current trends in the Australian higher education show that the number of women completing undergraduate degrees in the STEM is at a ten year low.
Gender Disparity in STEM Workforce
In 2011, only 28 percent of the working STEM-competent Australian labor force aged 15 years and over were female, unlike in the tertiary qualified population having a 55 percent. The figure was 14 percent for females while for men was 86 in the Engineering and related technologies. In the information technology field, male and females accounted for 75 and 25 percent respectively. In the field of natural and physical sciences, it was reported to have the least disparity with females comprising 47 percent of the entire workforce while the men were 53 (Australia, 2014, p. 4).
Labor Market Barriers for Women in STEM
In Australian research, the STEM workforce has been described as workers that have university qualifications at a bachelor degree level or higher in the fields involve the study of Natural and Physical Sciences, IT or Engineering, and Related Technologies. It is has been suggested that women employed in STEM-related occupations and industries experience significant labor market barriers, including larger gender wage gap, and limited chances of getting a job matching to their skills (Australia. Office of the Chief Scientist, 2016).
Female Representation in STEM
A comparison of the data from the 2006 and 2016 census in Australia, it reveals an insignificant increase in female representation among the population featuring STEM qualifications at the university level from 27.6% to 29.7%. Currently, the rate of female representation is almost similar to those with NPS qualifications, at 48.5%. In the ERT field, the majority of the personnel are men, even though female representation has been on the rise at an increasing rate from 12% to 16% for ten years since 2006. Irrespective of the prevailing rhetoric concerning labor shortages, in 2006, the unemployment rate for qualified STEM workers was higher for university graduates considered as non-STEM qualified. However, by 2016, the trend had changed with women having STEM qualifications being more likely to be out of work, where the unemployment rate was 5.1% equated to 4.1% for other female university graduates (Australia. Office of the Chief Scientist, 2016).
Challenges in Encouraging Women in STEM
The policies that have been implemented and enacted to encourage women into STEM may be naïve. The opinions and arguments on the economic benefits of a more STEM-savvy workforce could either be correct or incorrect because the government has not been superior to the existing market process to match supply to the demands for future skills, or interest groups. There is a need to initiate a positive attitude and behavior in the information technology sector (Australian Industry Group, 2013).
References
Australia. Office of the Chief Scientist, 2016. Australia's STEM workforce: science technology, engineering and mathematics. Australian Government, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory,.
Australia, G.C., 2014. An analysis of the gender wage gap in the Australian graduate labour market, 2013. Melbourne: Graduate Careers Australia pp.4-10.
Australian Industry Group, 2013. Lifting our science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills. Australian Industry Group.
Blackburn, H., 2017. The Status of Women in STEM in Higher Education: A Review of the Literature 2007–2017. Science " Technology Libraries, 36(3), pp.235-273.
Diekman, A.B., Brown, E.R., Johnston, A.M. and Clark, E.K., 2010. Seeking congruity between goals and roles: A new look at why women opt out of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers. Psychological Science, 21(8), pp.1051-1057.
