Looking at the history of women in math and sciences, there seems to have been seem resistance for many female mathematicians to even study the subject in a formal setting. Let’s take a look at what the present state of female students in mathematics and sciences is like. [2]
USA
Percentage of degrees earn by women (2015-2016)
| Degree | All STEM fields | Mathematics and Statistics |
| Bachelors | 35.50% | 42.50% |
| Masters | 32.60% | 41.70% |
| Phd | 33.70% | 28.50% |
CANADA
|
Field |
Percentage of Canadian women enrolled in post-secondary education |
|
Physical and life sciences and technologies |
55.20% |
|
mathematics, computer and information sciences |
27% |
|
Architecture, engineering related technologies |
20.50% |
Percentage of degrees earned by Canadian women (2016)
All STEM fields: Bachelors: 34%
Percentage of Canadian Women enrolled in post-secondary institutions (2016-2017)
| Field | Percentage women enrolled in post-secondary education |
| Physical and life sciences and technologies | 55.20% |
| mathematics, computer and information sciences | 27% |
| Architecture, engineering related technologies | 20.50% |
EUROPEAN UNION
Tertiary education graduates (2016)
(Tertiary education is education after the high school level.)
| Field | Tertiary Education Graduates |
| Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Statistics | 53.50% |
| Engineering, manufacturing and construction | 27.70% |
| Information and communication technologies | 18.80% |
Percentage of women tertiary education graduates in information and communication technologies in Europe (2016)
Country |
% |
France |
16.50% |
Germany |
18.10% |
Netherlands |
12.50% |
Switzerland |
8.90% |
UK |
19.40% |
INDIA
Undergraduate degrees (2017-2018)
| Field | Undergraduate degrees |
| Information Technology | 51.90% |
| Science | 51.30% |
| Engineering and Technology | 31.70% |
Canadian University
University of Waterloo, Canada
If we consider some numbers a little closer to home, at the University of Waterloo, in Canada, there has not been much improvement in women’s participation in mathematics since 2008. [3]
| University of Waterloo | 2008 | 2015 | 2016 | |||
| female | male | female | male | female | male | |
| math faculty members | 39 | 165 | 43 | 197 | ||
| general faculty members | 247 | 715 | 359 | 859 | ||
| Math Phd students | 68 | 195 | 63 | 246 | 70 | 241 |
| general Phd students | 527 | 1029 | 651 | 1330 | 671 | 1293 |
| math masters students | 83 | 218 | 217 | 345 | 241 | 375 |
| general masters students | 983 | 1391 | 1602 | 1678 | 1732 | 1732 |
| math undergraduate students | 1510 | 3271 | 2209 | 4251 | 2411 | 4404 |
| general undergraduate students | 10575 | 13264 | 13971 | 16304 | 14589 | 16649 |
So far, not so great. If we look at the numbers for 2018 for women in STEM in the UK, it has not improved any. Physical sciences have more female students and graduates at about 35-39% while computer sciences and engineering & technology have the lowest female participation at 19%. Women in, and graduates of mathematics programs, lie between these two. [5]
Let’s consider the labour force and see if there is any more improvement. [2, 5]
LABOUR FORCE
Earth
28.8% – Less than 1/3 of those employed in scientific research and development roles are women (2015)
The following parts of the world have greater than 1/3 of women employed in scientific research and development
| Region | Percentage of women employed in scientific research and development |
| Central Asia | 48.1% |
| Latin America & Caribbean | 45.4% |
| Central & Easter Europe | 39.5% |
| Arab States | 39.8% |
Australia
27% – women are employed in STEM fields (2016)
12.4% – employed in engineering roles (2016)
22.8% – employed in computer systems design and related fields (2018)
Let’s consider the labour force and see if there is any more improvement. [2, 5]
Canada
Among young Canadian, 25-35 years, holding a Bachelor’s in a STEM field, men are 2 times as likely to work in science and technology jobs than women. (2016)
22.3% – women employed in computer and information systems
13% – women employed in civil, mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering
USA
24% – women employed in STEM fields (2015)
25.5% – women employed in computer and mathematical jobs
16.2% – women employed in architecture and engineering jobs
Demographics of women employed in STEM fields (2015)
| Ethnicity | Percentage of women employed in STEM fields |
| Asian | 6.5% |
| Black | 1.6% |
| Latin | 1.8% |
Less than 20% of people employed in high tech jobs are women in the USA. (2017)
18.7% – female software developers, applications and system soft
4.2% – women employed in computer network architect roles
8.9% – women employed as aerospace engineers
European Union
32.6% – women made up 32.6% of people employed in high-tech, manufacturing and knowledge intensive high tech services. (2017)
Why women leave STEM related careers and career paths is another big question. Below are just a few possible reasons but definitely not all of them. This is a topic that definitely requires it’s own post.
Reasons women leave STEM careers/paths
- Isolation
- Male-dominated work environment
- Bias
- Lack of effective (female) role models
45% – once women enter a tech field, they are 45% more likely to leave.
There are some positives and initiatives, however small.
POSITIVES
European Union
40.5% – women scientists and engineers (2017). This is a 28% increase since 2007
Japan
15.7% – Women researchers in science and technology (2017)
In 2007 the Japanese government made targets for women researchers in science to increase to 20% and in engineering to 15%. They haven’t quite achieved their goal, yet.
LEADERSHIP
There are fewer women on boards in STEM fields than other industries.
Information technology industry:
- Lowest representation of women on boards
- 28.5% of companies surveyed had 0 women on their board (2017)
- 18% of companies surveys had 3 or more women on their board (2017)
- Of the women on boards, the women are almost 2 times as likely (at 16%) as their male counterpart ( at 9%) to have professional technology experience. (518 Forbes Global 2000 companies)
PAY GAP
Canada
82.1% – women who have graduate with a STEM degree earn 82.1% of what a male counterpart earns. (2015)
European Union
73.4% – women in professional, scientific and technical activities earn 73.4% of what men earn (2014)
USA
80.3% – women in computer, engineering and science jobs earn 80.3% of what men earn in those roles
Women in STEM jobs earn 35% more than women in non-STEM jobs and 40% more than men in non-STEM jobs.
All these statistics are great. But the real question is how do we encourage more women into math and sciences?
References
- Why Talk About Women in Math?, Rachel Crowell, March 2019, Forbes, URL: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelcrowell/2019/03/28/why-talk-about-women-in-math/#5fe781ac7179
- Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM): Quick Take, June 2019, Workplaces that work for women, URL: https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-in-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-stem/ (Catalyst, Quick Take: Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) (June 14, 2019).)
- Representation by Gender, Women in Mathematics, University of Waterloo, URL: https://uwaterloo.ca/women-in-mathematics/representation-gender
- Statistics, National Girls Collaborative Project, URL: https://ngcproject.org/statistics
- Women in STEM | Percentages of Women in STEM statistics, Sept 2019, STEM Women, URL: https://www.stemwomen.co.uk/blog/2019/09/women-in-stem-percentages-of-women-in-stem-statistics
