Most people will answer this question with one or more of the following:
Lack of females in the pipeline
Women get paid less than men
Men are more interested in STEM subjects than women
There aren’t enough female role models in STEM
While these statements are all true, they are just symptoms of the root cause. To truly understand this, we need to take a walk through recent history.
Fitting in was a woman’s lifeline
Recent history shows us that not so long ago, a woman did not have rights to own money or property. She could only ensure access to these life essentials by having a man in her life.
Being desirable to those in power (i.e. men) and fitting in with society was a woman’s lifeline.
It is no wonder that when a female steps into a male-dominated workplace where she doesn’t "fit in", she is likely to feel unsafe. It takes relentless resilience for her to face this everyday.
Why is this still relevant?
Times have changed and women do have equal rights with men, however, there is a lag in our culture’s behaviour. This "cultural hangover" can be explained by the way we solidify our beliefs as humans.
A baby comes into the world as a blank slate with no beliefs. Most of us first learn how to behave in the world by observing our parents. Looking at the infographic on the above, most of our parents did live during a time when women did not have equal rights with men.
It is likely that as children, we have picked up on the subtleties of the previous generation and brought those beliefs and behaviours into our own.
What can STEM business leaders do about it?
From speaking with a number of leaders at major UK STEM businesses, it is evident that many feel the scale of the problem is so huge, they are disempowered to do anything about it.
Here are just three actions that any STEM leader can do to spark a positive change today:
Truly understand the challenges that women in STEM careers are facing today by building great working relationships and taking an interest in their career and personal goals.
Visibly demonstrate work-life balance to your team members. Employees look to their leaders to determine whether a STEM career will work for them as they think about future life aspirations.
Ensure that all senior leaders are educated on the benefits of a gender balanced workplace and given a safe environment to ask questions or work through doubts. Dichotomy between leaders gives employees an excuse to work against the goal. On the other hand, positive behaviours and attitudes from a united front amongst leaders will trickle down through your teams.
Surely there must more we can do
If you'd like to receive a full report on Gender Diversity for STEM Businesses in the UK, please contact me.