More Why

Here’s another reason…there has been a 9% decline in women-in-STEM in the last 10 years, to now 26% total. The US has averaged 35% women-in-STEM for the prior 50 years!

Why?

Unfortunately, there’s no clear answer to this question. However, the recent research from CSU points to a lack of confidence among young women as they exit pre-calculus and calculus classes and not feeling 100% ready for the next class. I’m not sure if this is really the case, but that’s what the study suggests. They compare this to the typical young man who, regardless of feeling 100% confident and ready, maintains enough bravado to move forward anyway.

Personally, I think young women opt out of the tech pursuits because of social issues.

I recently had the opportunity to ‘chit chat’ with a few 12-13 year old girl students…and I took the opportunity to ask them this question. Interestingly enough, they all agreed that social pressures are of a major concern. For example, they all use androgynous names when gaming online – in other words, they’d rather not be recognized as female online like they purposely hide their true identities.

Which brings up another why?

Their answer was horrifying. They openly said that it was because that as soon as “boys” discover their “girl” identity, that the boys start asking for “all nudes”!

I almost fell off my chair!

We have a serious issue here people! As a dad of 2 sons, it’s embarrassing to think for a second that boys are acting this way in the anonymous online world…it’s horrible. We must pull together here and educate our youth about appropriate online behavior – I put this at the door of parents to help solve.