EducatedWomen FearlessWomen

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Post 11- Reflection

Looking back on my research and focusing this topic, initially, I thought that I had bit off more than I could chew. I thought I knew the basics of discrimination against women of STEM. It was relatively easy to find sources concerning discrimination against women in the work place, but there aren’t many sources that specifically focus on discrimination against women in STEM education. Most articles concerning STEM have a tendency to back track to the gender wage gap which is relevant to my topic, but it was never my dominant focus. So, my research generally consisted of a lot picking through articles to find the information I needed. Through my research, I learned that is always more to look into. There is always more depth that one must fully dig into to fully understand the issue at hand and to create methods and possible solutions.

           This topic has taught me that when women are faced with hostility or discrimination, we generally react in ways that allow us to protect ourselves. We are so focused on protecting ourselves from oppression that we don’t realize the way in which our choice of reaction may harm other women. When we react, we must be sure to react in ways that will not add to our own oppression. This is why I refute the tactic of women using assimilation as a response to discrimination by men. It adds to the problem rather than fighting it. This lesson doesn’t only account for women, but for all people facing oppression; think about the ways that one contributes to one’s own oppression and never act in those ways.

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Post 10- Bibiolography

Beede, David N., Tiffany A. Julian, David Langdon, George Mckittrick, Beethika Khan, and

Mark E. Doms. "Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation." SSRN Electronic Journal SSRN Journal (2011): n. pag. Web. 20 Apr. 2016. This article is a good source for comparing the gender wage gap between women and men in STEM jobs versus women and men in non-STEM jobs.

Makarova, Elena, Belinda Aeschlimann, and Walter Herzog. "Why Is the Pipeline Leaking?

Experiences of Young Women in STEM Vocational Education and Training and Their Adjustment Strategies." Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training Empirical Res Voc Ed Train 8.1 (2016): n. pag. Web. If one is interested in the experiences of women in STEM education and vocational fields in Switzerland which still gives a general idea of the experiences most women in the STEM educational and professional systems, this case study would be a great source. It goes into depth of women’s individual experiences and classifications of women’s reactions to the discrimination they face.

Pickett, Leah. "Women Still Face Gender Bias in Math, Science Fields." WBEZ 91.5fm

Chicago. N.p., 9 Oct. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <https://www.wbez.org/shows/wbez-blogs/women-still-face-gender-bias-in-math-science-fields/9e54e945-fbfe-4f93-9c70-33d08e84e456>. This article discusses the life of a women with a STEM degree and the constant discrimination and sexist reactions she encountered in both her professional, educational, and personal life.

Raymond, Laurel. "Even With Hard Evidence Of Gender Bias In STEM Fields, Men Don’t

Believe It’s Real." ThinkProgress RSS. N.p., 19 Oct. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/10/19/3713612/men-ignore-hard-evidence-of-gender-bias/>. This source provides information concerning the denial that many men are in concerning the gender bias that women in STEM constantly face.

Sloot, Corrie. "Simpsons; Girl Code." YouTube. YouTube, 05 Jan. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzxDRDoEI_0>. This is a video clip of The Simpson’s episode that displays the discrimination women in STEM educational systems face due to them being a minority in the field of study. They are underestimated and constantly shown that they don’t belong.

Watts, Alexander W. "The Clayman Institute for Gender Research." Why Does John Get the

STEM Job Rather than Jennifer? Clayman Institute for Gender Research, 2 June 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. This article poses as somewhat of an introduction into the gender bias of the STEM field. It brings to light the gender bias that employers unknowingly have against women, and the role this biasness plays with employment opportunities for women.

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Post 9- Solutions

The main and first solution to help alleviate the issue of discrimination against women in STEM education and professions is for women to get more involved in the STEM curriculum. I think women should continue to fight to be part of the STEM workforce no matter their struggles. I feel like the more women that continue to get involved in STEM and not allow men to discourage them, the more the STEM fields will have to alter to accommodate the women in STEM education and professions. For those women who actually become successful in the STEM professional field, they should return at some point to help educate the STEM women of the next generation. Recall that STEM is a masculine field that doesn’t account for the presence of women very much. Women in STEM education and profession were viewed as minorities because there aren’t many women part of the field. By successful STEM women returning to teach classes, female STEM students may be more encouraged to stick with the STEM degree and follow through with a STEM career because they are becoming more accommodated for.

           In addition to avoiding the response of assimilation to discrimination of women by men, I believe that women should also avoid turning to avoidance. When a women uses avoidance as a tactic to respond to discrimination, that women is helping to silence to the problem of discrimination against women in STEM. By contributing to the silencing of the discrimination, these women are helping to protect the behavior of these men, and allow the discrimination to continue. In order for discrimination in the STEM fields to diminish, women must address the oppression head on and struggle with it. If women give in to the discrimination, continue to give in, the struggle will never be alleviated.

           Another solution that may help alleviate the discrimination against women in STEM is for women to stop choosing to assimilate when being faced with discrimination by men. By assimilation into the masculine culture surrounded by STEM, women are supporting the masculine culture. This masculine structure needs to be altered into a bisexual culture as a means to take into considerations of both sexes rather than just one. In assimilating, women are surrendering their femininity. By choosing to surrender their femininity, they are creating a setback for other women in STEM who don’t want to sacrifice their femininity, but would rather be accepted as a female professional of STEM.

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Post 8 Summary

In summary, according to my research, the STEM profession and educational system was built around men. The environment and stylistic teachings for STEM was created in a manner that will only accommodate men in their success. The masculine environment doesn’t account for the arrival of women into STEM education and profession. Since there has been no critique to account for the arrival of women, many women find themselves facing multiple difficulties and discrimination during their educational and more in their professional phase. Women in STEM education are constantly not taken seriously by their male colleagues, their own professors, and employers. Women are constantly treated and told they don’t belong in the STEM field because this type of work has always been a masculine field for men. With the backlash that women face from the men in this field, some choose to grow thick skin, hide their feminine selves, and not let their colleagues’ ignorance bother them. Meanwhile, there are others who choose to no longer pursue STEM education and profession as a means to escape the discrimination and harsh treatment.

           There aren’t many women in the STEM fields because there isn’t room to accommodate women in their pursuit of STEM education and profession. There aren’t any current tactics in place to help STEM become more diverse with gender nor much influence or support for STEM women which causes women to deter from the field. If women does obtain a STEM degree, most will go into the field of education rather than the field of their degree just to escape the difficulties attached to being a woman in STEM.

           The topic of discrimination against women in STEM reminds of the female truckers article by Anna Merlan. Even though, data concerning rape against women of STEM programs doesn’t exist (to my knowledge), there is still a form of discrimination that women face. STEM women face verbal discrimination by their male colleagues, co-workers, and professors who look at women as too weak for the field or don’t consider them to be professionals as the male colleagues are. These women are subjected to unnecessary discrimination that should have been ceased by HR or management representatives just as the female truckers were. In both cases, neither superiors did anything to help protect the women from the discrimination by men. In both cases, women were becoming involved in male-dominated fields. The relativity of these two instances just goes to show that management and HR representatives are not taking their jobs seriously nor do they care about the well-being of other employees because they are allowing them to be subjected to discrimination and abuse.

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Post 7- Intersections of Issues

The discrimination against women in STEM education and professions is an intersectional issue because upon researching and learning about the issue, one will encounter topics of gender roles, gender wage gap, and gender attribution. For centuries, men have been viewed as the masculine role that does all the heavy and brain-work. Meanwhile, women were always the nurturers and caregivers. Due to such stereotypes, men stuck with the more difficult work such as STEM work, construction work, while most women went into care-giving services such as nursing and teaching. It was perceived that the woman’s role was to teach and nurture the youth, and leave the providing and building to the men. Since many people actually obeyed these stereotypes, when women crossed over into masculine fields of profession, it was deemed as unacceptable because the women weren’t obeying their gender roles as being nurturers and caregivers. Many men discriminate against the women as a means to show them and make them feel that they don’t belong in the masculine field of STEM as a means to discourage the women from continuing to pursue STEM education and careers.

The topic also touches on the gender wage gap. Recent studies have shown that women in STEM fields are paid more than men in non-STEM jobs, but still make less than men in STEM. The wage gap between men and women in the STEM fields is smaller than the wage gap between women and men in non-STEM fields (Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation. pg.4). In addition to touching upon the wage gap, there’s a relatable discussion of gender attribution. Women are viewed as feminine creatures who are sweet, nice, with attractive personalities and physical features. Some of the women who choose to stick with STEM education and careers deal with the discrimination by altering their persona. The women attempt to show the men that they are serious by becoming more assertive, and perceiving to them that they aren’t as feminine as they think (Makarova, Aeschlimann, Herzog, pg.9). In doing so, women are changing their gender attribution to be viewed as more masculine to be accepted into masculine fields of study.

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Post 6- Institution Contribution

The primary contributors to the discrimination and gender bias against women in STEM educational and professional systems. These contributors are the employers for STEM positions, the HR employees for STEM companies, and the teachers for the STEM educational system. Employers pose as primary contributors because they are the ones who hire people for STEM positions. They choose to offer males the STEM position with a higher salary over the equally qualified woman. Why do men get the position over equally qualified women? It's because employers have it engraved in their minds that women aren't as intelligent as men or don’t have a strong work ethic as men. There are constant studies and articles discussing who's smarter than whom, but no general conclusion has been met so one cannot say that all women are smarter than men, but neither can one say that all men are smarter than women. There may be instances in which either may be true, but for an employer to make that decision between equally qualified applicants based on their gender is a setback for women in STEM and other professional fields. As long as employers continue to make employment decisions in such manners, women's opportunities for higher in STEM employment and other professional fields will diminish. 

The HR employees of STEM companies are also liable for the discrimination against women because they don’t monitor the employee’s behavior as they are supposed to. HR representatives are supposed to confront and act on any discrimination that is exposed to another employee as a means to prevent such behavior from occurring again whether they it is male against male, woman against woman, or male against female. In a male dominated field such as STEM, women are still seen as weak forces even if the obtain a STEM position and continue to face derogatory statements from men that attempt to diminish their self-confidence, and let them know that, as a woman, they are not in the right place. Men make diminishing statements to let women know that they have no place in the STEM field. Even though, some women don’t allow for such statements to bother them, it is the job of the HR employees to take disciplinary actions against these men to help end and prevent future discrimination which they do not do. Teachers in the STEM educational system are also at fault in the contribution. The STEM field has been generally dominated by males, thus, the curriculum is biased towards that of the male gender. Teachers have not altered their ways of STEM teaching to be more diverse as to account for the women entering the field. Instead, many women are singled out in STEM classes rather than being referred to as professional students as the other students are.

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Post 5- Real Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzxDRDoEI_0

           For a real life example, the focus will be on episode 10 of “The Simpsons” televisions show from season 27. In this episode, Lisa decides to take a computer class due to her interest in STEM. When she enters the room she encounters a classroom full of males who make discriminatory statements towards her saying this isn’t a web design class it’s computer coding. The boys act this way as a means to discourage her from continuing to take the class and making her feel as though she isn’t in the proper class according to her gender. The episode really stirs up when the professor for the class shows up, and, to their surprise, the professor is a woman. Once the professor sees that Lisa is the only girl in the class, she pays special attention to her as to make sure that Lisa succeeds in the class to show the boys that women do have positions in STEM fields, and are great at it. As the episode proceeds, the professor tells Lisa that she must become tough in order to survive in STEM education and professional.

           This episode plays as an uplifting role of women singling out other women and encouraging them to pursue careers of their choice no matter what gender may dominate that specific field. It’s important that each person has role models to help influence them to do things that they never thought would be possible. This episode was very relative to me because in high school I was part of a STEM club. I joined the STEM club on my own and we built robots together. Upon joining the club, I was one of the very few girls present. Many of the other male club members would not take me seriously nor my ideas when it came to building the robot. Every time I suggested something it was overlooked or ignored. It was a very frustrating experience. I found myself agitated and irritated by the male club members who would either ignore my ideas completely or steal them. Eventually, the struggles of trying to stay part of the STEM club got to me and I stopped going altogether. I wish I had someone like the professor to that pushed me to keep going, and overcome the struggles of being a STEM woman. Who knows where I would have been today had I stayed, but that just remains a “what if” question for me. Although, it doesn’t have to be for other women wanting to pursue STEM education and professions. Times are changing, women just need that extra push (from another woman) to help them succeed.

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Post 4- Scholarly Source 2

According to this source, women have made drastic progressions with the gender wage gap. This conclusion has been proposed because women in the STEM field of work make more than men in non-STEM fields of work. These women also make more money than women in non-STEM fields of work. Although, women in STEM are still making less money than men in STEM. It is a strong possibility that men aren’t paid more than women due to their knowledge and capabilities. It’s possible that some men in STEM are paid more than women due to the gender bias of employers against women. There are employers who are willing to pay men more money because they believe they are more competent.

           The wage gap between men and women is smaller than the wage gap between women and men not in STEM fields which in a way does show improvement for the women of STEM. Upon going into more detail, the study also discovers the sects of STEM and their individual wage gaps. Of the sects, the engineering sector has the smallest wage gap between men and women. This sector is followed by physical and life sciences, STEM managerial, and computer and math with the largest wage gap between men and women. This trend may be due to the fact that most women who pursue STEM careers choose to enter the physical and life sciences sector. As more women enter the sector and excel, changes may occur to accommodate the presence of women. Over time, they may be treated more equally to men in term of wage as women and their presence continue to progress.

           It is true that women have been progressing over the years, and the decrease in the wage gap between women and men in STEM fields is a progression, but it’s still not enough. A lot of times, articles only focus on the general big picture of studies as a means to perceive the progression to be greater than what it actually is. When one goes into depth behind the gender wage gaps of the STEM fields, one can see that there is still more work to be done within most sectors of STEM fields before women can actually say “We finally did it.” Decreasing the wage gap in one sector is just one step in the right direction for women of STEM fields, but we’re looking to finish and win the race. I feel like whenever anyone is speaking on discriminating situations improving or being brought to justice, one should always ask “how much depth does this response really go into? Is it just something that is surface level to make the depth seem so much better than what it is? Is it enough? What else needs to be done?

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Post 3: scholarly source

This source discusses a case study of the experiences of women in the STEM educational and professional system in Switzerland. It brings to light the fact that most women who graduate with a STEM degree will not continue to pursue a STEM career, but would rather go into the field of teaching simply because it may be less of a hassle for women to succeed in. This issue is known as the leaking pipeline (Makarova, Aeschlimann, Herzog, pg.2). The study calls into question the social role theory. According to this theory, society has its own shared opinion of what men and women are meant to do with their lives and careers. These views of what men and women are supposed to do have been engraved in the minds of most individuals of society. Since so many people share this view of gender roles, for one to abide such roles is viewed as something natural and normal (Makarova, Aeschlimann, Herzog, pg.3). The social role theory helps to explain why both men and women face difficulty when transitioning into fields of study and work that weren’t “meant” for them to be in. These people aren’t doing their gender. They aren’t acting in ways that correspond to their assigned gender which creates conflict within gendered organizations. Gendered organizations are “tactics of divisions of labor that keep the technology in men’s control and maintain ‘the definition of skilled work as men’s work and unskilled work as women’s work’ (Makarova, Aeschlimann, Herzog, pg. 4).

During the study, conductors initially analyze the treatment women in STEM education and professions then analyze the way in which women respond to their treatment. From the data provided, eight categories were created; Four to generalize the treatment women faced, and another four to summarize the women’s reaction to their treatment. The four treatment categories were described as wrong sex in which men make women feel that they don’t belong, exotic sex in which women are being treated as a minority by the men, and archetypal sex in which the men point out the differences between men and women based on stereotypes concerning the natural careers for the sexes. There is also the weak sex in which women are discriminated against through comparison of men making them look like inferior beings. The four response categories were named resilience in which women become tough to deal with the behaviors of men, and assimilation in which women become more masculine to fit in with the male dominant career., Women also respond with excellence by excelling in their field of work, and avoidance in which women try to go unnoticed. Most women in STEM training respond with resilience, while most women in STEM education respond by assimilating (Makarova, Aeschlimann, Herzog, pg.12)

Generally, I agree with the way in which the women response to the oppression of the men in STEM education and profession. I don’t think that women should allow men to deter them into different fields of study because running away from the problem will do nothing except pass it on to the next generation of STEM women. Women must struggle with their oppressions and discriminations in order to overcome them so taking the easy way out is unacceptable. The best two tactics that women can use to respond to their discrimination are resilience and excellence. I choose these two because by women excelling in STEM, they are giving men a slap in the face saying “Hey, I did all of this on my own and I didn’t even need a penis.” I also choose resilience because this tactic allows women to take a stand against their discrimination while still maintaining their feminine selves just with more confidence and authority. I disagree with the tactic of women assimilating into the ways of the masculine culture of STEM because even though it takes the pressure off women, it causes them to separate themselves from their natural femininity. The goal is to reshape the culture of STEM education and professions so that it accommodates both men and women entering the field. Assimilation supports the masculinity so one must ask themselves is it truly progressive to women of STEM?

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Post 2: Web Source

http://gender.stanford.edu/news/2014/why-does-john-get-stem-job-rather-jennifer

 This article discusses and proves, through experimentation, the implicit discrimination that women pursuing STEM related fields face while attempting to jump start their career. Corinne Moss-Racusin created an experiment in which she created two resumes with the same qualifications and experiences. The only difference between the resumes was that one had a woman’s name at the top, and the other had a man’s name. She sent these resumes out to be reviewed by scientists for a lab position. The general result was the same; the scientists preferred to hire the resume with the man’s name, saw the women as less knowledgeable, and were willing to pay the woman $4,000 less per year than the man. Moss- Racusin eventually found that the scientists were oblivious to the fact that they were discriminating against women so she proposed a course to help decrease the implicit bias gender that scientist and instructors may have towards women. In decreasing the gender bias against women, more opportunities and a greater chance of success are opened to women in STEM fields.

I do agree there is a great gender bias present within the STEM fields and curriculum against women. Whether it is implicit or explicit, it is still there hindering the success of women pursuing STEM related fields. No matter how far women have come over the last few decades, we are constantly underestimated. Our achievements are overlooked, and there are multiple negative connotations about a woman’s success or how a woman becomes successful. Society constantly discriminates against women in education and work especially STEM related fields, and in the eyes of society women will never be equal to nor as good as men. We’ll never be able to make the same pay as them. In my view, all of this is okay. Women don’t have to be equal to nor as good as men because we have the ability to do so much more and earn so much more money than them. Even though there is a low representation of women in STEM fields currently, there’s an opportunity for women to excel in this field. It just takes the right drive and mind set to tell society, and those who are gender bias “Hell no, I won’t settle for less. Watch me work and thrive.”

The idea of having scientists take a gender bias course to help reduce their implicit discrimination towards women is great, and it does help to open more opportunities for women. Although, the fact of the matter is that not every scientist nor instructor will take a gender bias course to help women out in the STEM fields and curriculum. That method of taking a course reminds me of a student having a test, studying for that test, passing the test, and forgetting everything that he or she learned within the next few weeks. Taking a course will not take great impact in the long run because people will only remember and infiltrate their lessons when they truly care about the matter. A lot of people don’t care about the gender bias and discrimination women face in the STEM curriculum. Yes, the course is a great start, but I think there has to be a more productive way to fix this issue. Something more permanent, more structured.

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Introduction

The upcoming focus of my blog project will be the discrimination women face in STEM related fields of the educational and professional systems. This stance of discrimination contributes to gender oppression of women because it shows a favoritism towards those of the male gender diminishing a woman's chances of becoming part of such fields of study. For those women who overcome the educational discrimination within the STEM program, success may be difficult to achieve for these women simply because they are just that. For years, the STEM fields were seen as masculine fields of study because men were deemed as smarter and stronger, and a better fit for the STEM fields. As women's interest of these fields rise and women attempt to be apart of these fields, our educational systems provide more of a difficult experience for experience to hinder them from becoming successful in the STEM educational curriculum. This is a problem that should matter to all women no matter their career field nor their field of study. Over the years, as women have started to take part in all careers fields and fields of study, we have been subjected to mistreatment, underestimated, and discrimination due to us being women, especially career women. The educational system was built to help women find a husband through their curriculum, not to help women actually find careers. It wasn't "a woman's place to work." As times have passed, women have successfully broken through some of the oppressive educational and professional barriers. Even though so much progress has been made, there is still more to come until women will no longer have to face discrimination no matter their field of study. Even though, I am not a STEM major, this problem interests me because it deals with discrimination against women which makes this problem, my problem. In the future, that women being discriminated against, underestimated, and being turned down jobs could be my niece or my daughter. I refuse to allow anyone to the power to tell them that they aren't good enough simply because they are women and hinder their experience.