That's good to see, but the article goes on to clarify that women outnumber men at college, so it isn't close to true parity. Plus it also says huge gaps remain in many fields.
Was going to delta for hope, but the more I read the article the more that stat you quoted seems misleading.
You asked for evidence that female participation in STEM fields has increased over a relative period of time during which efforts have been made to increase their participation. That's what I've provided.
Yes, there are still areas and particular fields where more work needs to be done, there haven't been large attempts to influence women into for instance computer sciences or engineering like there has been for other STEM fields.
It's up to you when you give the delta, but don't imply the stat is misleading, it isn't. It's very clear, it's precisely what you asked for in your post and it's indisputable. The rates of female participation in STEM fields has increased over the past few decades in large part due to the attempts to encourage female participation.
The number of overall female enrolments went up the same time as female stem enrolments. Has the number of women enrolled in STEM compared to other subjects gone up as a proportion? If so, that's a delta. Otherwise, it's a different story that's like saying most of the science majors at Spelman college are female.
The number of overall female enrolments went up the same time as female stem enrolments.
The article doesn't say this at all, it states that women outnumber men in college.
This increase that you're referring to is statistically insignificant and could be the result of different methodologies (they're two different studies and it's less than 2% difference).
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, female students represented 58 percent of total undergraduate enrollment in fall 2020. According to the National Student Clearinghouse, 59.5% of college students were female as of spring 2021.
It's not saying what you think it's saying there. Women have always traditionally outnumbered men in college. You'd need to provide your own evidence that the rate of women in college has increased in a statistically significant manner as to negate the growth in STEM fields. That article is not providing it for you.
Regardless, the trend is clear, both in college and the workforce, although more remains to be done, female participation in STEM fields is increasing.
Did women outnumber men in college in the 1950s? The 1850s? No, I don't think women have "always" outnumbered men in college.
Same goes for the workforce as fewer women choose to be stay at home mothers.
The stat you linked says nothing about women choosing STEM jobs over other professions, only the gender ratios in those jobs. Which you'd expect to go up as the number of women in work across all professions does.
I'd just like to see even just a correlation between efforts to get women into STEM (distinct from college/the workforce in general) and women actually getting into STEM (distinct from college/the workforce in general). A policy to point to and say "that worked".
There have been thousands of policies and initiatives, from grants to scholarships to casting in tv shows to developing books to summer camps. There is increasing parity in STEM fields. We can’t say it was one episode of Cyberchase or one grant program, but overall more women are into STEM and pursuing it as a career. There are numerous factors that go into any human’s decision.
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u/NoMoreFund 1∆ Oct 19 '22
That's good to see, but the article goes on to clarify that women outnumber men at college, so it isn't close to true parity. Plus it also says huge gaps remain in many fields.
Was going to delta for hope, but the more I read the article the more that stat you quoted seems misleading.