Gender inequality in technological studies remains overwhelming despite the efforts of administrations and institutions to combat it. Equality and promotion policies and campaigns of VET centers and universities. Thousands of women scientists and technologists involved in mentorships and their presence in schools to expand female references.
Women continue to be a minority in the studies of almost all technological families that lead to the jobs with the most potential for growth in the future and the best paid. In most STEM degrees (sciences, technologies, engineering or mathematics) the ratio of men to women is practically nine to one if the health branch is eliminated, in which they are the majority.
On the occasion of the celebration of International Women’s Day, on March 8, several studies have been published that photograph the situation. One is the study by CaixaBank Dualiza and Orkestra – Institut Basque de Competitivitat focused on FP, which indicates that only 12.3% of people who graduate in STEM cycles are women. Of the eleven FP professional families in these areas, only four are not masculinized (food industries, chemistry, image and sound and construction and civil works). This does not mean that the number of boys and girls is comparable, but that there are at least 30% girls in each classroom.
In addition to being a minority, they earn less and have fewer open-ended contracts, according to the study noted. An example that companies consider that they are likely to receive a lower salary compared to their male colleagues is in chemistry jobs. The average salary for boys reaches 26,300 euros in the fourth year of obtaining a secondary degree. Theirs is 21,700 euros. And in a higher degree, the salary for men is 30,800 euros compared to 26,600 for women.
At university, the situation is no better if, as has been pointed out, careers linked to health are eliminated. A study by Esade, Women in STEM: from basic education to careers, analyzes all the data on the path of girls throughout their school career, their performance in STEM subjects and the choices that they take when they finish compulsory education.
“The data in the early stages anticipate that the gender gaps are transferred to the working career”, explains Lucía Cobreros, author of the EsadeEcPol study, together with Jorge Galindo and Teresa Raigada.
You have to go back to the beginning. Before the age of five, girls believe that they are more talented than boys and yet they see themselves as better than them. But, according to research published in Science in 2017, girls start to point to them as brighter from this age. Five years later the gap is wider. “When they turn 10, girls are 15% less likely than boys to consider mathematics their favorite subject and 8% less likely to consider it easy, learn quickly or enjoy it. On the contrary, they answer that they are boring and difficult”, explains the researcher.
Fast forward another five years. They already have 15. “If we continue to analyze the data from the reports, in this case the latest PISA 2022, we see that they feel much more nervous or hopeless than they do when they solve a problem (20 points difference), and these figures are worse than a decade ago”, he continues.
Low self-perception and anxiety about the subject lead, among other factors, to reject technology studies as a possible option at older ages. The presence in the scientific-technological branch of high school is the least chosen despite the fact that they are more applied and manage to complete their studies more successfully.
In selectivity, girls choose fewer subjects such as physics (2.65% less) or technical drawing (2.13%) despite the fact that the marks are slightly higher. Those who enroll in university degrees with these skills do not reach 50% in almost any case. In mathematics they are 36%; in physics, 27%; in telecommunications, 23%, or in IT, 13%.
“The most discouraging thing is that this had not always been the case, we had been better, and there has been a decline in the number of students”, reveals the researcher. In 1990 there were as many boys as girls in mathematics classrooms and now they are 36%. A total of 6,257 had enrolled and in 2020 they barely exceeded 4,800. The same thing happens in physics. There were 5,074 compared to 3,171 four years ago. In computing, they reached their peak in 2000 with 16,900 girls. Some 20 years later they do not reach 5,000.
What is your situation once you graduate? EsadeEcPol has drawn up an indicator on the real presence of women in the labor market in technological occupations. Thus, the number of women employed in this field stands at 5.5% (with a growth of two points compared to 2011). Regarding men, 13% occupy a technological position.
In this indicator there is a green bud: 9% of employed women under the age of 30 have a technology job.
As was the case in FP, the fact of having studied a science or technology career does not imply working in this field, something that occurs more frequently in the case of women than in that of men. “Our analysis indicates that women who have a STEM degree are, five years later, less likely to work in a technological occupation than their male counterparts,” Cobreros explains. They also earn less.
Esade’s study proposes ideas, and some are already being taken into account, such as incorporating the gender perspective in science subjects or also training teachers to teach the subjects minimizing bias. Offer opportunities for contact with girls (summer workshops, extracurriculars, bootcamps, mentorships, etc.) and greater professional guidance. And strengthen the role of families, promoting their participation in the learning process.
