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Colleges, Professors Discourage Women from Pursuing STEM Careers

Significant numbers of women and minorities who made it into science careers were discouraged along the way. What's more, the bulk of those who said they've experienced discouragement most often cited their educational institutions as the offenders, according to a report released this week.

The report, "Facts of Science Education XIV," conducted by research firm Campos and commissioned by pharmaceutical maker Bayer, surveyed 1,226 "female and underrepresented minority" members of the American Chemical Society, specifically chemists and chemical engineers--mostly those who had attained doctoral degrees (64 percent), but also those with bachelor's (20 percent) and master's degrees (16 percent).

What the report found was that a significant portion of those surveyed said they believed they'd been discouraged from pursuing careers in science. Forty percent said that they personally had been "discouraged by individuals during the course of their successful pursuit of a STEM career." Hispanic women indicated that they had fared worse than average, with 50 percent reporting that they had been discouraged--the same figure reported by black men. Asian women reported the lowest amount of discouragement among the statistics cited in the report, at 28 percent, followed by Hispanic men, at 31 percent.

So where is this discouragement happening?

  • 60 percent of those who experienced discouragement said they experienced it in college;
  • 41 percent said they experienced discouragement in high schools; and
  • 35 percent have experienced it in the workplace.

Who were the worst offenders? College professors, according to the report, with 44 percent citing those individuals as a source of discouragement. That figure jumped up to high of 65 percent among black women and fell down to a low of 28 percent among Asian women. Colleagues, family members, advisors, and teachers were also cited--although teachers and family members were strongly reported as positive factors as well.

The chart below shows a breakdown of the culprits, with those in a position of trust in educational institutions cited most frequently.

Guidance counselors were cited more often as offenders by black men (34 percent), Hispanic women (31 percent), and black women (30 percent).

A number of other barriers also presented themselves to those surveyed for the report on their path to STEM careers. These included:

  • Lack of mentors (50 percent);
  • Lack of role models (49 percent);
  • Stereotypes adversely affecting women and minorities (39 percent);
  • Lack of communication from STEM industry (39 percent);
  • Self doubt (35 percent);
  • Cost of education (31 percent);
  • "Sense of isolation" (29 percent); and
  • A lack of solid math and science education in poorer schools (24 percent).

"If we want to achieve true diversity in America's STEM workforce, we must first understand the root causes of underrepresentation and the ongoing challenges these groups face," said Greg Babe, president and CEO of Bayer, in a statement released Monday. "We want to knock down barriers. If we can do that, we'll be able to develop the attitudes, behaviors, opportunities and resources that lead to success."

So what were the positive influences for these respondents? The vast majority (82 percent) credited a "strong personal interest" in science as one of the factors leading them to a career in STEM. Others included:

  • Supportive family members (69 percent);
  • "Inspiring and dedicated teachers" (66 percent);
  • A challenging curriculum and/or an "abundance and variety" of STEM courses (33 percent);
  • Extracurricular activities (24 percent);
  • Role models (22 percent); and
  • Financial assistance (19 percent).

More than three-quarters of respondents (77 percent) said they thought the STEM workforce in the United States is lacking women and underrepresented minorities owing to a lack of early encouragement and nurturing. However, managerial bias in STEM companies is still a significant factor, according to 40 percent of respondents, as is institutional bias (38 percent).

The report had a margin of error of ±3 percent at a 95 percent confidence level. Further information about the survey can be found on Bayer's site here.

Comments

Wed, Jun 30, 2010 Lillian Seattle

I am in the process of getting a ME degree and I am always battling with sexism from fellow male classmates. I feel like I always need to work extra hard to have them take me seriously. Somtimes I just give up but then I really regret that I didn't stand firm with my ideas. I would like tell all women pursuing STEM careers and working in teams to be on the watch for men giving you the secretarial type work while them taking over the more responsible design work. You could lose a lot of beneficial hands-on experience that way. I was really taken aback one time when in a lab one group, one member accused me of yelling at him because he thought I was "taking over" while he felt he could boss me all he wanted. What really surprises me is that outside of school I never have communication problems with men and they all respect and like me even though they know my major.

Mon, Apr 5, 2010

I worked as a specialized instrument scientist, I was later promoted to Quality cotrol manager and still made less than $17 per hour. Whenever I'd get a call from one of the major science hiring agency (2-3 times a year) guess what they'd offer me to go work for a decently well known science firm in the same job? $16-17 per hour, and no moving allowance. I was once told that where I worked they wanted to hire more people from my minority group because we worked hard and didn't cost a lot. Least you think this was a long time ago I held this job within the last 2 years. Fed up and in an okay place finacially due to draconic saving I'm moving on to other ways and places to support STEM.

Mon, Apr 5, 2010

I have routinely exceeded the performance of male colleagues, but even now, as a tenured full professor, I am paid less for doing more-- more grants, more teaching, more service, more pubs. Just how does that work, do you think? There is empirical evidence that a CV with a woman's name on it is judged more harshly than an identical CV with a man's name. Academe gets away with stuff that industry gave up decades ago. No wonder my women students see brighter lights in pharma and biotech than in dealing with the faculty dinosaurs. I'm tired of people assuming I'm my own secretary because I'm a woman.

Mon, Mar 29, 2010

The only problem I have with this article is that they make no mention of what percentage of non-female, non-minority students experience "discouragement". This provides no useful baseline for comparison, since I'm certain that not all caucasian males are fully encouraged to pursue a STEM career. Obviously, gender- or ethnic-biased discouragement by faculty should be forbidden, but quite frankly, I see nothing more valuable for the STEM fields than an objective eye that deals out discouragement. In my time as an undergraduate and graduate student, I saw quite a handful of students that were never discouraged who had absolutely no business designing/monitoring/being within an arms length of an industrial process. These students were of all walks of life, as were the students I saw of equal high measure. Our biggest problem is that the objective people are afraid to discourage students because of this type of focus on gender and race, and the biased folks are the ones that don't care who they offend.

Fri, Mar 26, 2010

Six months after my first child was born, the senior members of my Department's executive committee called me in for a meeting to discuss my prospects for getting tenure. I came to the meeting feeling confident and excited - after all, I had just successfully negotiated 2 separate industrial research contracts, securing funding for my research going forward 3 years, and I had recently had 2 publications accepted and submitted a couple more. But when I sat down in my Chairman's office, he handed me a letter, signed by these senior colleagues, saying that in recent months I seemed to have "lost my enthusiasm" for my job, and that the Committee had reservations about pursuing my case for tenure. Sigh! Of course, I won the tenure battle, but the war still rages on. My hope is that these old attitudes will be retired along with those who hold to them, and we can get on with the important work of science and engineering without bringing politics into it.

Wed, Mar 24, 2010 Janis

I'd say that the most important thing is to just confront it with a workshop series. No extra money for minority scholarships needed -- the white men stay in the programs without extra money, so obviosuly the money isn't the solution.

And the workshops need to focus differently for male students and grad students as opposed to male professors. Professors are in a leadership position, and they need to acknowledge that. People in the military say that the one thing that distinguishes a group of soldiers where sexual harassment is rampant and another group where it never happens is the attitude of the immediate leadership. Professors, especially men, need to keep an ear out and simply put a stop to that sort of thing when it happens so that the undergrads and grads learn that it isn't acceptable. They can't indulge in it themselves, and they have to stop turning a blind eye, even with just a simple, "There's absolutely no reason for that." Or, "She's right, why are you arguing with her?" Or, "Get those girlie posters off the office wall now." This isn't handholding, it's the kind of real leadership that prevents these problems.

Unfortunately, I think that the female professors (if there are any in a given workshop) would resist this. They have learned how to go along to get along and never question because there are so few of them, and they can often think, "I had to put up with hands up my skirt and threats against my tenure by leering guys for decades, why should these girls get off easy?"

It starts at the top. The departments need to have a no-nonsense no-exceptions policy on sexual harassment, like a real and mature corporation would. If you can't hang a nudie poster in your office at IBM or tell rape jokes at lunch, you shouldn't do it in your academic office, either. (Anyone who thinks they should be able to do either needs to grow up.) And the male professors have to take it seriously. I think ninety percent of what I went through as a grad student wouldn't have happened if professors like Dr. Gerbil weren't so happy to laugh it off with an amused smirk. :-( The grad students knew it was a locker room, and they acted like it.

Some men may not like this or take it seriously, but it works wonders in corporations and the military, and it's loads cheaper than minority fellowships, which don't solve the problem anyway. The problem isn't attracting women and ethnic minorities; it's not outright repelling us once we're there.

And again, please no one appeal to the fact that Physics Is Hard. First off, it's not really -- most of the math is dog-simple. Second, the difficulty of the subject isn't the problem.

Wed, Mar 24, 2010 Editor

Janis: Any recommendations for curbing this among teachers, advisors and professors? --David Nagel

Wed, Mar 24, 2010 Janis

I love the cracks that all but come out and say "maybe you just weren't that good." You have NO IDEA how good and committed you need to be to get past the garbage thrown at you starting from elementary school to go study home ec and get out of the way of the boys. I passed my PhD quals the first time around, finishing first in a class of 22 guys in quantum mechanics. Please. I've forgotten more math than most people even know exists, if you must know.

Far from being given a pass for being a woman, I was flat-out told I had no business being there because I was a woman. The myth of having people go easy on you because you're not a man is just that -- a myth. I think some men who didn't make it just like to reassure themselves by saying that the women who beat them out aren't actually better ... they just got a free pass for being a woman.

Wed, Mar 24, 2010

Are you kidding? At some universities women pursuing engineering degrees get inflated grades just for being women. I wonder how many of the women and minorities that experienced discouragement performed at a college level. I'm not suggesting that it is there fault, in fact they may have been discriminated against as far back as elementary school.

Wed, Mar 24, 2010

I was in high school and college in the 70's, and I was never discouraged from studying math and computers (my two chosen field). In fact, I was strongly encouraged in high school (I broke several math records and was mentored by the most serious math teacher). In college, it wasn't quite so positive, but nobody ever discouraged me, either. And after college, I got a job in a small software company where I was the only woman in the programming department and again, no discouragement. I know I was lucky and not everyone had these experiences.

Tue, Mar 23, 2010

Women and minorities can get accepted to colleges and grad schools because they are women and minorities. Perhaps this gives them the wrong impression about their actual qualifications. There is no excuse for discrimination, but giving someone an unearned promotion, appointment or grade is discriminating against those who didn't get it. Does the expression "reverse discrimination" mean anything? Moreover, men become afraid of being accused of discrimination if they don't pass female students. I hope this isn't being done in airline pilot training and flight exams.

Tue, Mar 23, 2010 Diane Millersville, PA

I work at Millersville University, in PA. On April 10th, we are having an event titled "Science, Technology, and Me". It is aimed at girls in grades 6 to 10, to provide them the opportunity to learn more about careers in these fields and meet women already working in various capacities there. We also have an annual Women in Math & Science Conference that is open to young ladies in junior and senior high school; that has been going on for over 20 years. I think we do a great job of encouraging females, along with males, in STEM!

Tue, Mar 23, 2010 Peggy Regentine Windward Com College

Barbara Hotta at Leeward Community College just received a Diversity Grant for Women pursuing STEM careers. Six community college female students visited the Haleakala Telescope on Maui(Hawaii), Oceanit Corporation and the Maui High Performance Computing Center to encourage these women to continue their dreams.I believe these women are interested because the women were encouraged by a female chemistry professor, a female mathematics instructor and two female Computer Science instructors. So we just need more female role models for these women!

Tue, Mar 23, 2010 Steve Holland

And field (law enforcement?) where women are often seen to be superior to men is clearly one that is still discrimination -- a women has to be exceptional in order to compete with 'ordinary' men! This was true for African-Americans in the early days of integrated professional sports (eg baseball) in America!

Tue, Mar 23, 2010

My wife holds a EE and MBA and was a High School Cheerleader and Gymnast. She, a blond white girl, was discouraged in her career chioces from High school through Graduate school. My assessment is that the professors and teachers that discourage anyone in general are suffering from "those who can do, and those who can't teach" syndrome. Though it should be a level playing field it certainly is not. I work in a field dominated by males (Law Enforcement) and have found that most women in the field are far more competent and less compensated than their male counterparts. Logic and the scientific method is not gender specific.

Tue, Mar 23, 2010 Vanessa

AMEN to the problem that exists in workplaces. After 25 years in the workplace (includes 14 years at an engineer dominated work site), I now work at a gender balanced IT job where the environment does not feel like a daily battle between roosters. Until the management dinosaurs retire, I don't see the workforce problem changing. The only change I see now (from 1979 when I received my STEM masters)is that the outright discrimination has ended as a result of Federal law. The clandestine remains. Instead of being told I don't deserve the same salary as a man, yes folks outright and in my face in 1980, I was simply denied a promotion. I now volunteer for an annual event that is geared to keeping middle school girls in STEM education.

Tue, Mar 23, 2010

Though I got all A+s in Science in middle school, my guidance counselor suggested that I take "College Science 9" instead of Biology my first year in high school. SHE told me: "You shouldn't jump into anything you're not ready for, dear." This same counselor encouraged the boys in my class (who got worse grades than I did) to take Biology. Well, I took College Science 9. It covered everything I already mastered in middle school. I got bored and lost all interest in science. I used to love science.

Tue, Mar 23, 2010

The positive changes that I have seen include grass roots efforts among women to form informal groups for mentoring young women in science. New groups like the Sally Ride Science Academy for Girls, the rise of many hometown science centers across the country as well as the Home Depot Kids workshops are hands-on, minds-on helpful. Many moms are banding together to make sure their girls attend these. Look at the science and technology charter schools topping the best schools' lists. But where is the top down approach? Hello? Is anyone out there? Maybe we should hear more from the NSF? P.S. Though you are not around to hear it anymore, Mr. M, thank you again for recommending me & assisting with my application for the NSF Biomedical Applications of Physics program while I was in high school. When we set aside our expectations of each other, we were both pleasantly surprised! Thank you, forever.

Tue, Mar 23, 2010 Editor

For those of you who have experienced this sort of treatment, what helped get you past it? Was it mostly your own determination? Outside encouragement? Is there anything that can be done to help alleviate the problem (short of personality transplants for some professors)? --David Nagel

Tue, Mar 23, 2010 Carol Williams Worcester Polytechnic Institute

I'm not at all shocked by this... It actually starts at the level of high school. As I have two daughters who would like to enter the biomedical field and keep getting pushed by their guidance counselors to be teachers instead; even though they have outstanding marks in science and math. Let's start at the high school level and encourage our daughters to pursue careers in the sciences and engineering fields.

Tue, Mar 23, 2010 Anonymous

I am shocked that this is the case. All students, irrespective of race or gender, should be encouraged into STEM careers. I have not heard anyone in our school say anything like that to any student. Now if any student is not applying himself or herself to be successful, what should a teacher tell them - I suppose nothing!

Tue, Mar 23, 2010 Janis

I found that I didn't get serious hostility until graduate school. Up to that point, they seemed to think it was cute that the little girl thought she could be a physicist; when I got into grad school, it was a lot more threatening. I remember one professor telling me that I couldn't expect the men to treat me any better because ... and I an not making this up ... male guinea pigs would try to have sex with as many female guinea pigs as possible if you put them in a cage together. I am not making this up. I spent a little time in the linguistics department, where I never once got any hostility directed to me AT ALL. I guess physicists are a little further down the evolutionary rung than linguists, a little closer to the guinea pigs.

Tue, Mar 23, 2010 Editor

To the anonymous poster: What positive changes do you see happening? --David Nagel

Tue, Mar 23, 2010

And this is news? What a shocker! When I told my high school counselor I wanted to go to the local college's Engineering Scholarship Day, he said he would let me know when it was. I checked back repeatedly only to find out that he only sent the boys. I signed up for shop class and was told I was only allowed to take Home Ec. I now hold multiple degrees in math and science. My oldest daughter made perfect scores on her standardized tests in math and my youngest excels in engineering. I hope they kick !* and take names in their careers. All the girls in my science club stuck together and stayed in touch and they all have science degrees as well. Change is coming, albeit glacier slow. When life runs you in circles, make pi!

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