Five Popular STEM Majors Taken by Women. Why?
- Hiba M.
- Jun 19, 2021
- 3 min read
“A womanly occupation means, practically, an occupation that a man disdains,”
said George Gissing.
Women were always seen to be lesser beings, a complementary aspect of life in
the eyes of men. So, when it was time for them to leave the limiting life of being
solely a housekeeper, they faced multiple obstacles raised by men. Over the
years, women were able to infiltrate small departments of work, however, those
occupations always involve them being segregated by the higher authority of
men. It wasn’t until much later that they had the opportunity to claim higher
positions, and in our time being that means positions in STEM.
STEM is a term used to group academic disciplines of science, technology,
engineering, and math. The fields of work that incorporate STEM are in high
demand right now, so having a major in any of those disciplines is an attractive
choice for incoming freshmen. Even schools understand the importance of
these studies and designed the curriculum in order to lay a basic foundation of
STEM. This means that both men and women receive the same training in
science and math during primary, middle, and high school. Nevertheless, the
number of women who pursue a degree in science and engineering is scarce
compared to that of men.
This statistical difference may seem outrageous, but the reasons behind it make
historical sense, making the representation of women slightly higher in a few fields.
So, what are the most popular STEM majors taken by women?
It was discovered that women lean more towards the life sciences majors. As
statistics show, women compromise 50.5% of all medical school students in the
US according to the AAMC (Association of American Medical College).
Furthermore, in biomedical sciences, biology, health studies, physical sciences,
and social sciences women outnumber men making these 5 bachelor’s degrees
the most popular STEM majors taken by women.
However, women are underrepresented when it comes to majors like
mathematics, computer science, technology, and engineering. Why this choice?
Many reasons play into this phenomenon. Discrimination, for one, contributes a
great deal to this matter.
Even though perspectives have evolved, the fight for equity between the genders is still taking place, making little progress each year.
Society still represents mathematicians and scientists to be a male occupation. The lack of female representatives leads girls to believe that professions like these are not made for them.
From a young age, the stereotypical idea that men are more fit to take on the intensive fields of math, engineering, and technology is embedded into women’s minds, making them more reluctant to pursue these disciplines.
Women may be underrepresented in the fields of math and engineering but in
some life science disciplines, they outnumber men. Why this specific choice?
Eccles, a professor of psychology, women's studies, education and
the director of the Gender and Achievement Research Program at the University
of Michigan says: "Although these girls might be interested in physics and are
confident of their mathematical abilities, they choose to go into the biological
sciences or medicine because they want a job that more directly helps people."
This means that women are more likely to choose a field of work that allows them
to interact with people and help them. Women have an instinct to
care for others, so maybe the biological nature of women plays a role in their study
orientation.
The reasons why women are more inclined to choose a life science major are
multiple and undefined. They are influenced by society and also by the
underrepresentation of women in the other field of STEM. Some may argue that
the reason why few women pursue a major in STEM is even biological. However,
women are becoming more willing to join those disciplines even if they face
discrimination based on their gender.
It is slow progress for sure, but progress nevertheless.
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