STEM in Focus
Changing the face of STEM: Essential ways companies can make a difference
Making a difference means working with local schools, nonprofits and governments to develop gender-responsive STEM programs for women and girls, creating products and services that benefit everyone, and advocating for laws and policies that protect human rights. Technology, climate change, social conflicts and pandemic impacts are profoundly shaping the way we work today. To meet these complex challenges, there’s a growing demand for workers with sharp skills in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). How can companies rise to solve workforce gaps?
Private sector companies - the major employers in STEM fields - must step up to prepare future generations of women and girls for new job demands and the workforce they need, focusing in particular on females from underrepresented communities.
What needs to change?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts computer science and information technology companies will add more than 500,000 new jobs by 2030. Other STEM-related occupations, such as mathematicians, data scientists, engineers, and healthcare jobs, are also expected to grow at the same time.
Despite these projections, occupational segregation for gender, race and class continues to keep women and girls from benefiting from new STEM jobs.
A mere 21 percent of engineering and computer science degrees are earned by women in the United States. The statistics drop significantly for Black and LatinX women, to 3 percent and 5 percent, respectively. Only 17 percent of senior managers in the information technology sector globally are women.
The underrepresentation of diverse women in STEM poses the double risk of leaving women and girls behind in the work world and having companies miss out on the massive potential for better innovation and higher productivity and earnings.
Prioritize diversity and inclusion
As it stands today, companies say they’re struggling to fill jobs most in demand and find people who possess the necessary skills. Since nearly half the U.S. workforce are women but they only participate in 28 percent of STEM jobs, focusing efforts on supporting women and girls in STEM is a strategic, direct investment in the talent pipeline. More importantly, it’s an investment in women’s economic security: a key driver of economic growth.
Examine strategies, operations and culture
Businesses need to first adapt their corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies to meet the shifting needs of the communities they serve. Asking key questions:
Is our organizational structure free of any structural barriers that traditionally hold back women from all backgrounds from joining us and advancing their careers?
Are we proactively disrupting the association of gender roles for STEM occupations?
Do we have policies that provide social protection and care?
Are we compensating fairly and transparently?
Do we provide supportive networks such as mentorship programs that help women advance in their careers?
Collaborate with local schools, nonprofits and government
Companies must actively partner with local schools, nonprofits and government (local, state and national) to help transform the STEM curriculum and advise on the knowledge, attitudes and skills needed for jobs in demand. This includes providing resources, funding and mentorship opportunities for young women and girls.
In what ways?
Get involved with local nonprofits and schools who work closely with girls and young women who best understand their challenges and strengths. Together, help build a robust STEM curriculum and gender-sensitive training for day-time and afterschool programs and teachers – so the education is relevant, fit-for-purpose and creates inclusive STEM career pathways.
Fund the work of nonprofits and schools delivering STEM programs.
Provide scholarships for girls to attend STEM camps and enrichment programs.
Offer scholarships for young women to study STEM in college or other post-secondary programs.
Arrange internships for STEM roles within your company.
Innovate products and services that benefit all
Companies in emerging STEM sectors, such as artificial intelligence, social media and data science, which shape and influence our daily lives must take responsibility to innovate products and services that embed human-centered designs and are less driven by profits and influence. This starts with making sure designers and technologists reflect diverse populations, and include women and girls from all backgrounds and status. Diverse teams with varied lived experiences can put safeguards in place to keep emerging technologies like generative artificial intelligence and intelligent virtual assistants from perpetuating inequalities and gender bias.
Advocate for policy changes
Engaging in dialogue with government, nonprofits, women and girls is essential to help shape laws and policies that protect and uphold human rights, such as data privacy and technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
In a nutshell
As we adapt to the Digital Era and new ways of working, private sector companies play a critical role in advancing gender equality in STEM. Otherwise, this is a missed opportunity for women, girls and society at large.
Private sector businesses can help create a more equitable and resilient future if they prioritize diversity and inclusion in recruitment, training, and product design.
This requires working with local schools, nonprofits and governments to develop gender-responsive STEM programs for women and girls, creating products and services that benefit everyone, and advocating for laws and policies that protect human rights.
Ultimately, by embracing the full potential of women and girls in STEM, companies can drive economic growth, raise productivity, foster innovation, and create a more just and inclusive society.