To many observers of academics, STEM is the wave of the future. This stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, and represents key sectors of education that are driving the economy. This is why high school and college students who are looking for a field of study with a bright career future are considering STEM.
There are a number of pros and cons to this move. On the positive side, colleges, universities, and high schools are increasing their offering of STEM classes. In addition, there are numerous opportunities for work and summer study programs in various STEM fields. However, to date, STEM has seen more racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination than most other professions. Studies have shown that women and minorities aren’t studying STEM in proportion to their makeup in the country’s population. This is why the STEM professions continue to be dominated by white men. Nevertheless, there is hope for the future as more and more women and minorities are entering STEM programs at the college level, with an eye toward a career in one of the many STEM professions.
The STEM fields of study
The four major areas of STEM are science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This is further broken down into subcategories. Probably the broadest is science. This includes biology, chemistry, physics, zoology, astronomy, astrophysics and earth sciences. Most colleges and universities offer majors in some or all of these topics.
Engineering is also quite broad. This includes civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical, biomedical, computer, environmental, aerospace, and industrial. It also includes architecture, the professionals who design structures like homes, office buildings, and apartment complexes. For those who don’t know, civil engineers design and build structures like bridges, roadways, and other parts of the infrastructure. Two of the fastest growing fields of engineering are environmental and computer. Environmental engineering has become a critical part of most industries, as they need to develop ways to cut down on emissions, become more energy efficient, and eventually become carbon neutral. Meanwhile, computer engineering has exploded with most businesses and industries requiring specialized computing systems and software.
Mathematics includes a portion of computing as well. Many applied math majors go onto a career in coding, developing the long chain of codes needed to operate complex computing systems. Meanwhile, there are mathematicians who work in so many different areas of business. One example are actuaries. These are the folks who determine the insurability of businesses, buildings, homes, automobiles, and even people’s lives and healthcare. An actuary utilizes a complex set of formulas to determine whether something is insurable, how much coverage the applicant should receive, and what the annual premium payment should be. As you can surely imagine, actuaries perform a critical role in the insurance industry.
The final part of STEM is technology. This is really a catch all for the remaining areas that fall neatly into one of the other categories. Automobile and vehicle design is one area of technology. These are the professionals who design engines for trucks, the latest battery electric vehicles, and the bus or train you took to get to school this morning.
Barriers to entry for women and minorities
As you can see, a career in one of the STEM professions can be quite lucrative. If you have a knack for math or science, love to work with computers and smartphones, or are just good at fixing things, then STEM is for you. The only problem is that STEM has been historically dominated by white men.
Even today, women make up only 28% of the STEM workforce, despite the fact that there are more women than men working in America today. If you break it down, you’ll see that some areas are worse than others. For example, 46% of biological scientists are women, as ware 40.4% of chemists and materials scientists. However, this number drops precipitously when you get to other STEM professions. Only 25.2% of those in computer and mathematical professions are woman, as are only 16.5% of engineers and architects. In addition, men still outnumber women when it comes to college STEM majors.
This is due in large part to continuing gender stereotypes. STEM professions are still seen as jobs for men, not women. In addition, there is a glass ceiling that exists for women in STEM jobs. While women make up almost 80% of all healthcare workers, almost 80% of executives and board members in the healthcare field are men. This is also the case with physicians, with only one-third of all medical doctors being women.
The news is also grim for minority members. In 2019, almost 60% of college degrees in the STEM fields were earned by whites. In comparison, only 15% of Hispanic and 9% of Black students earned degrees in STEM that same year. Meanwhile, 18.% of the US population is Hispanic and 13.4% is Black, with both demographics growing faster than any other racial or ethnic groups. Again, systemic racism may be at fault, much like how sexism has held back women in STEM.
Hope is on the way
There is some hope for the future. Many groups have begun working to get more women and minority members into STEM programs. For example, there are a number of STEM summer programs designed for high school girls. There are even some that look to begin training young girls in STEM before they reach high school. In addition, there have been efforts made to get Black and Hispanic youth involved in STEM summer programs as well. The goal is to promote STEM to women and minorities so that they will decide to major in these various fields when they are in college.
If the number of women and minority members who have STEM degrees increases, it will put pressure on the various businesses, nonprofits, charities, and governmental entities that employ these graduates to increase the hiring and promotion of women and minority members in these STEM professions. It may take time, but hopefully the employment numbers, especially among executive and management positions, will better reflect the demographics of our society.
Considering a career in STEM
If you are wondering about a college major, you should consider one in the many STEM fields. You may be surprised at the broadness of this field of study. What you won’t find surprising is how lucrative the compensation is for people who hold a degree in one of the STEM professions. At Dade Prep Academy, our academic staff will be happy to work with you as you choose a college for your career training, and a major in one of the many STEM areas of study.
Sources:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2021.630529/full#:~:text=Recent%20data%20by%20the%20National,students%20(NCES%2C%202018).
https://www.aauw.org/resources/research/the-stem-gap/
https://www.pathwaystoscience.org/urm.aspx?sort=region&subsort=Northeast
https://www.teenlife.com/category/summer/stem-summer-programs/
