Research

Quick Take: Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)

Jun 14, 2019

Education

The Gender Gap in STEM Begins with Education

Few women in the United States are earning degrees in STEM, except in the life sciences.1

Percentage of Degrees Earned by Women in Postsecondary Institutions in the United States (2015–2016)2
Bachelor’s Master’s PhD
Biological and biomedical sciences 59.9% 57.3% 53.0%
Mathematics and statistics 42.5% 41.7% 28.5%
Physical sciences and science technologies 38.8% 37.8% 32.2%
Engineering and engineering technologies 19.7% 25.2% 23.5%
Computer and information sciences and support services 18.7% 30.8% 20.1%
All STEM Fields3 35.5% 32.6% 33.7%

In 2016, Canadian women made up approximately one-third (34%) of all recipients of STEM bachelor’s degrees.4

The Fields of Engineering and Technology Are Especially Male-Dominated

Canadian women were less likely to pursue higher-paying STEM fields such as engineering or computer science in 2016.5

Percentage of Canadian Women Enrolled in Post-Secondary Institutions (2016-2017)6
Physical and life sciences and technologies 55.2%
Mathematics and computer and information sciences 27.0%
Architecture, engineering, and related technologies 20.5%

In the European Union (EU-28), women accounted for slightly over half (53.3%) of tertiary education7 graduates in the natural sciences and mathematics and statistics but were only slightly over a quarter (27.7%) of engineering, manufacturing, and construction tertiary education graduates in 2016.8

The gender gap is especially wide in information and communication technologies, where women were less than a fifth (18.8%) of tertiary education graduates.9

*Data is for 2015
Percentage of Women Tertiary Education Graduates in Information and Communication Technologies in Europe (2016)
European Union (EU-28) 18.8%
France 16.5%
Germany 18.1%
Netherlands* 12.5%
Switzerland 8.9%
United Kingdom 19.4%

Women in India earned over half of undergraduate degrees in both Information Technology (51.9%) and Science (51.3%) but remained underrepresented in engineering and technology undergraduate degrees overall (31.7%) in 2017–18.10

  • Yet women in India are only 30% of the Information Technology workforce and only about 10% of computer science researchers.11

In 2017, undergraduate women in Japan represented just 14.5% of engineering majors and 27.2% of physical science majors.12

Women of Color Earn the Smallest Share of STEM Degrees

The share of STEM degrees is even smaller for women of color in the United States. In 2015–2016, women of color earned a small percentage of bachelor’s degrees across all STEM fields:13

  • Asian women: 5.0%
  • Black women: 2.9%
  • Latinas: 3.8%

Labor Force

Men Continue to Dominate the STEM Workforce in Many Countries

Averaged across regions, women accounted for less than a third (28.8%) of those employed in scientific research and development (R&D) across the world in 2015.14

Central Asia (48.1%), Latin American and the Caribbean (45.4%), Central and Eastern Europe (39.5%), and the Arab States (39.8%) are the only regions in which women represented over a third of the R&D workforce.15

Women in Australia made up only 27% of the STEM workforce across all sectors in 2016.16

  • Women accounted for only 12.4% of engineers in Australia’s labor force in 2016.17
  • As of August 2018, women in Australia made up less than a quarter (22.8%) of those employed in computer system design and related services.18

Among young Canadians (aged 25 to 34) holding bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields, men were almost twice as likely to work in science and technology jobs as women in 2016.19

  • Women made up under a quarter (22.3%) of computer and information systems professionals, and only one in seven (13%) of civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineers in Canada.20

Women in the United States made up less than one-quarter (24%) of those employed in STEM occupations in 2015.21

  • A substantial gender gap in engineering and computer occupations contributes to women’s overall underrepresentation in STEM.22

In 2017, women in the United States represented:23

  • 25.5% of computer and mathematical occupations.
  • 16.2% of architecture and engineering occupations.

Fewer than two in ten science and engineering employees in the United States were women of color in 2015:24

  • Asian Women: 6.5%
  • Black women: 1.6%
  • Latinas: 1.8%
The Gender Gap in High Tech Is Especially Wide

Certain high-tech jobs have a much bigger gap. In 2017, women in the United States accounted for less than 20% of those employed in those positions, including:25

  • Software developers, applications and systems software (18.7%).
  • Computer network architects (4.2%).
  • Aerospace engineers (8.9%).

In the EU-28, women were just 32.6% of those employed in high-tech manufacturing and knowledge-intensive high-tech services in 2017.26

Unequal Treatment at Work Is a Leading Reason Women Leave STEM Careers27

Work experiences impact women’s decisions to leave. Isolation, male-dominated work environments, bias and a lack of effective women role models are other factors pushing women to leave STEM jobs.28

  • Once women enter the tech field, they are 45% more likely to leave than men.29
Bright Spot: Women in Europe Are Closing the Gender Gap in Science and Engineering30

In 2017, women made up more than a third (40.5%) of scientists and engineers in the EU-28, an increase of more than 28% since 2007.31

Japan Set Targets to Improve Share of Women Researchers in STEM32

In 2006, the Government of Japan established targets for women researchers in science to 20% and in engineering to 15%.33 As of 2016, these targets have not been met.34

  • As of March 2017, only 15.7% of Japan’s researchers in science and technology were women.35

Leadership

STEM Fields Have Fewer Women on Boards Than Other Industries36

When compared to other industries (including non-STEM), the information technology industry had the lowest representation of women. Just over a quarter (28.5%) of companies surveyed still had zero women on their boards in 2017 and only 18% had three or more women.37

Women with technology experience may have an advantage in the boardroom. In 2016, women on corporate boards (16%) were almost twice as likely as their male counterparts (9%) to have professional technology experience among 518 Forbes Global 2000 companies.38

The Pay Gap

Even in High-Paying STEM Jobs, Women Earn Less Than Men39

In 2015, Canadian women who graduated with bachelor’s degrees in STEM earned just 82.1% of the earnings of their male counterparts.40

Even after more than thirty years of equal pay legislation, women in the European Union who worked in professional, scientific and technical activities earned 73.4% of what men did in 2014.41

In the United States, women in computer, engineering, and science occupations were paid an estimated 80.3% of men’s annual median earnings in 2017.42

  • While earning less than their male counterparts, women still receive a high premium for working in STEM. Women in STEM jobs earn 35% more than women in non-STEM jobs and 40% more than men in non-STEM jobs.43

Additional Resources

Next Steps

Catalyst, Ask Catalyst Express: STEM.

Anita Bourg Institute, “Resources for Organizations.”

Research

Full List of Catalyst Quick Takes on STEM Topics.

Erin A. Cech and Mary Blair-Loy, “The Changing Career Trajectories of New Parents in STEM,” PNAS (March 5, 2019).

Heather Foust-Cummings, Laura Sabtattini and Nancy Carter, Women in Technology: Maximizing Talent, Minimizing Barriers, (Catalyst, 2008).

Cary Funk and Kim Parker, Women and Men in STEM Often at Odds Over Workplace Equity (Pew Research Center, 2018).

Allison Scott, Freada Kapor Klein, Frieda McAlear, Alexis Martin, and Sonia Koshy, The Leaky Tech Pipeline: A Comprehensive Framework for Understanding and Addressing the Lack of Diversity Across the Tech Ecosystem (Kapor Center, February 2018).

Aarti Shyamsunder and Nancy Carter, High Potentials Under Pressure in India’s Technology Sector (Catalyst, 2014).

Joan C. Williams, Su Li, Roberta Rincon, and Peter Finn, Climate Control: Gender and Racial Bias in Engineering? (Society of Women Engineers, October 2016).

DEFINITION: “STEM” refers to the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. There is no standard definition of a STEM occupation. For the purposes of this Quick Take, STEM incorporates professional and technical support occupations in the areas of life and physical sciences, computer science and mathematics, and engineering. Less agreement has been made on the inclusion of educators, healthcare professionals, and social scientists in STEM; therefore, these occupations are not covered here.44

How to cite this product: Catalyst, Quick Take: Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) (June 14, 2019).

  1. National Science Board, “Chapter 2: Higher Education in Science and Engineering,” Science & Engineering Indicators 2018 (January 2018).
  2. National Center for Education Statistics, “Table 318.30: Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctor’s Degrees Conferred by Postsecondary Institutions, By Sex of Student and Discipline Division: 2015-16,” Digest of Education Statistics: 2016 Tables and Figures (2017).
  3. National Center for Education Statistics, “Table 318.45: Number and Percentage Distribution of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Degrees/Certificates Conferred by Postsecondary Institutions, by Race/Ethnicity, Level of Degree/Certificate, and Sex of Student: 2008-09 through 2015-16,” Digest of Education Statistics: 2016 Tables and Figures (2017).
  4. Katherine Wall, “Persistence and Representation of Women in STEM Programs,” Insights on Canadian Society (May 2, 2019).
  5. Statistics Canada, “Is Field of Study a Factor in the Earnings of Young Bachelor’s Degree Holders?” Census in Brief (2017).
  6. Statistics Canada, “Postsecondary Enrolments by Institution Type, Sex, and Field of Study,” (2017).
  7. Tertiary education describes “all post-secondary education, including both public and private universities, colleges, technical training institutes, and vocational schools.” The World Bank, “Higher Education: Context,” (October 5, 2017).
  8. Eurostat, “Graduates by Education Level, Programme Orientation, Sex and Field of Education,” Eurostat Database (2018).
  9. Eurostat, “Graduates by Education Level, Programme Orientation, Sex and Field of Education,” Eurostat Database (2018).
  10. Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, “Table 35: Out-Turn/Pass-Out at Under Graduate Level in Major Disciplines/Subjects (Based on Actual Response),” All India Survey on Higher Education 2017-18 (2018).
  11. Divy Thakkar, Nithya Sambasivan, Purva Yardi, Pratap Sudarshan and Kentaro Toyama, “The Unexpected Entry and Exodus of Women in Computing and HCI in India,” CHI 2018 Paper No. 352 (2018): p. 4.
  12. Government of Japan, Gender Equality Bureau Cabinet Office, “Chapter 8: Education and Research Fields,” Women and Men in Japan 2018 (2018).
  13. National Center for Education Statistics, “Table 318.45: Number and Percentage Distribution of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Degrees/Certificates Conferred by Postsecondary Institutions, by Race/Ethnicity, Level of Degree/Certificate, and Sex of Student: 2008-09 through 2015-16,” Digest of Education Statistics: 2016 Tables and Figures (2017).
  14. UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Fact Sheet No. 51: Women in Science (2018): p. 2.
  15. UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Fact Sheet No. 51: Women in Science (2018): p. 2.
  16. Professionals Australia, All Talk: Gap Between Policy and Practice a Key Obstacle to Gender Equity in STEM: 2018 Women in STEM Professions Survey Report (2018).
  17. Andre Kaspura, The Engineering Profession: A Statistical Overview (Thirteenth Edition) (Engineers Australia, 2017): p. 32.
  18. Australia Bureau of Statistics, “Table 6: Employed Persons by Industry Sub-Division of Main Job (ANZSIC) and Sex,” (September 20, 2018).
  19. Statistics Canada, “Are Young Bachelor’s Degree Holders Finding Jobs That Match Their Studies?” Census in Brief (2017).
  20. Statistics Canada, “Occupation—National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2016 (693A), Highest Certificate, Diploma or Degree (15), Labour Force Status (3), Age (13A) and Sex (3) for the Labour Force Aged 15 Years and Over in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census—25% Sample Data,” 2016 Census (2017).
  21. Ryan Noonan, Women in STEM: 2017 Update (US Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, Office of the Chief Economist, November 13, 2017).
  22. Liana Christin Landivar, Disparities in STEM Employment by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: American Community Survey Reports (US Census Bureau, September 2013): p. 5.
  23. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Table 11: Employed Persons by Detailed Occupation, Sex, Race, and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity,” Current Population Survey, Household Data Annual Averages 2017 (2018).
  24. National Science Foundation, Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 2017 (2017): p. 13.
  25. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Table 11: Employed Persons by Detailed Occupation, Sex, Race, and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity,” Current Population Survey, Household Data Annual Averages 2017 (2018).
  26. Eurostat, “Employment in Technology and Knowledge-Intensive Sectors at the National Level, by Sex (from 2008 Onwards, NACE Rev. 2),” Eurostat Database (2018).
  27. Nest, “83% of Women Leave Their STEM Careers: We’re Changing That,” (LaTrobe University, 2018); Cary Funk and Kim Parker, Women and Men in STEM Often at Odds Over Workplace Equity (Pew Research Center, 2018); Meredith Holmes, “Why Women Leave Engineering: The SWE Gender Culture Study,” SWE (2016); Nicole Mortillaro, “Women Encouraged To Pursue STEM Careers, But Many Not Staying,” CBC News, March 8, 2018; Allison Scott, Freada Kapor Klein and Uriridiakoghene Onovakpuri, Tech Leavers Study (Kapor Center, 2017); Divy Thakkar, Nithya Sambasivan, Purva Yardi, Pratap Sudarshan and Kentaro Toyama, “The Unexpected Entry and Exodus of Women in Computing and HCI in India,” CHI 2018 Paper No. 352 (2018); Christian Young, Peter Finegold and Lesley Lenssen, Stay or Go? The Experience of Female Engineers in Early Career (Institution of Mechanical Engineers, July 2017).
  28. Catherine Hill, Christianne Corbett and Andresse St. Rose, Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (AAUW, 2010).
  29. Kim Williams, “Women in Tech: How to Attract and Retain Top Talent,” Indeed Blog, November 6, 2018.
  30. Eurostat, “HRST by Category, Sex and Age,” Eurostat Database (2018).
  31. Eurostat, “HRST by Category, Sex and Age,” Eurostat Database (2018).
  32. Government of Japan, Science and Technology Basic Plan (Provisional Translation) (2006): p. 25.
  33. Government of Japan, Science and Technology Basic Plan (Provisional Translation) (2006): p. 25.
  34. Government of Japan, The 5th Science and Technology Basic Plan (Provisional Translation) (2016): p. 35.
  35. Government of Japan, Gender Equality Bureau Cabinet Office, “Chapter 8: Education and Research Fields,” Women and Men in Japan 2018 (2018).
  36. Renee B. Adams and Tom Kirchmaier, “Women on Boards in Finance and STEM Industries,” American Economic Review, vol. 106, no. 5 (2016).
  37. Meggin Thwing Eastman, Women on Boards: Progress Report 2017 (MSCI, December 2017): p. 3, 19.
  38. Accenture, Tech Experience: Women’s Stepping Stone to the Corporate Boardroom? (2016).
  39. Christianne Corbett and Catherine Hill, Solving the Equation: The Variables for Women’s Success in Engineering and Computing (American Association of University Women, 2015): p. 12.
  40. Statistics Canada, “Is Field of Study a Factor in the Earnings of Young Bachelor’s Degree Holders?” Census in Brief (2017).
  41. European Commission, She Figures Handbook 2018 (European Union, January 2019): p. 94; Eurostat, “Mean Hourly Earnings by Sex, Economic Activity and Collective Pay Agreement,” Eurostat Database (2018).
  42. US Census Bureau, “Occupation by Sex and Median Earnings in the Past 12 Months (in 2017 Inflation-Adjusted Dollars) for the Civilian Employed Population 16 Years and Over,” 2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, American Fact Finder (2017).
  43. Ryan Noonan, Women in STEM: 2017 Update (US Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, Office of the Chief Economist, November 13, 2017).
  44. David Beede, Tiffany Julian, David Langdon, George McKittrick, Beethika Khan, and Mark Doms, Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation Executive Summary (US Department of Commerce: Economics and Statistics Administration, 2011): p. 2; US Census Bureau, “STEM, STEM-Related, and Non-STEM Occupation Code List 2010,” Industry and Occupation Code Lists & Crosswalks (2010).