Women and Girls in STEM Fields: How Gender Bias Impacts IndividualS Academic Decision

Abstract

Female figures have experienced consistent stigmatization in a variety of domains; one of the most significant fields is STEM, which is perceived as a laborious and hardcore discipline. Women, who are generally correlated with characteristics such as delicate and tender, maintain a lower participation rate in both STEM subjects and jobs. In order to obtain a more profound knowledge behind this trend, this essay aims to investigate potential reasons by generalizing current issues into three sections: academic, familial and occupational. The major research method used will be the semi-structured interview, where some questions are pre-designed, and some are improvised. One sample question of the predetermined question is Describe the gender bias you have experienced. After an abundant collection of evidence, the essay comes along to the conclusion that schools, families and workplaces do hold crucial embodiment of gender bias in academic preferences. Deficits of the education system mainly include a shortage of models, inappropriate learning content and a discriminating academic atmosphere. The familial aspect displays its effects through parental disapproval and enforcement of changing majors. Meanwhile, STEM occupations also exist issues, including sexual harassment and maladjusted salary. Deterrence, as a result of these reasons, extensively blockades women from entering these domains. Thus viable blueprints of rectification, such as law establishment and additional support, are also brought up. Such measurements are firmly believed to be effective alleviations of the current status.