Although Women Represent 48% of the Working Population in the US, They Occupy Merely 24%

Although women represent 48% of the working population in the US, they occupy merely 24% of jobs in STEM fields.

Beede, D., Julian, T., Langdon, D., McKittrick, G., Khan, B., & Doms, M. (2011). Women in STEM: A gender gap to innovation. (ESA Issue Brief #04-11). Washington, DC.

Only one in seven engineers is female.

Beede, D., Julian, T., Langdon, D., McKittrick, G., Khan, B., & Doms, M. (2011). Women in STEM: A gender gap to innovation. (ESA Issue Brief #04-11). Washington, DC.

A 2006 survey of college freshman in the US revealed that while close to 30% of male students intended to pursue STEM fields, only 15% of girls intended to do the same.

National Science Foundation (2009). Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science and engineering: 2009. (NSF 09-305). Arlington, VA: Retrieved from http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/.

In 2001-2002, 73% of bachelor’s degrees in computer and information science and 81% in engineering went to men.

U.S. Department of Education, N. C. f. E. S., Institute of Education Sciences. (2006). Degree completions in areas of national need, 1996-97 and 2001-02. (NCES 2006-154). Washington, DC: National Center for Educational Statistics.

In 2001-2002, between 70-80% of doctoral degrees in computer and information sciences, engineering, math, and physical science were earned by men.

STEM jobs are projected to grow by 17% between 2008 and 2018 while other fields are only expected to grow by 9.8%.

U.S. Department of Commerce (2011). STEM: Good jobs now and for the future. (ESA Issue Brief #03-11).

STEM workers earn 26% more than non-STEM workers.

U.S. Department of Commerce (2011). STEM: Good jobs now and for the future. (ESA Issue Brief #03-11).

In 2010, the unemployment rate for workers in STEM fields was 5.3%, and close to 10% in non-STEM fields.

U.S. Department of Commerce (2011). STEM: Good jobs now and for the future. (ESA Issue Brief #03-11).

Women represent 48% of workers in the US, but they hold only 24% of jobs in STEM fields.

U.S. Department of Commerce. (2011). Women in STEM: A gender gap to innovation. (ESA Issue Brief #04-11). Washington, DC.

Women working in STEM fields earn 33% more than women in non-STEM jobs.

U.S. Department of Commerce. (2011). Women in STEM: A gender gap to innovation. (ESA Issue Brief #04-11). Washington, DC.

In 2010, only 1 out of every 7 engineers was female.

U.S. Department of Commerce. (2011). Women in STEM: A gender gap to innovation. (ESA Issue Brief #04-11). Washington, DC.

Women held 30% of jobs in math and computers in 2000, but only 27% of such jobs in 2007.

U.S. Department of Commerce. (2011). Women in STEM: A gender gap to innovation. (ESA Issue Brief #04-11). Washington, DC.

Foreign-born workers make up 17% of the STEM workforce in the United States.

Carnevale, A. P., Smith, N., & Melton, M. (2011). STEM: Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (pp. 112). Washington, DC: Georgetown University.

STEM majors with a bachelor’s degree or more earn $500,000 more on average over their lifetime.

Carnevale, A. P., Smith, N., & Melton, M. (2011). STEM: Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (pp. 112). Washington, DC: Georgetown University.

In high school, girls take as many math and science classes as boys and earn higher grades in these courses.

(U.S. Department of Education, 2007)

U.S. Department of Education. (2007). The nation’s report card: America’s high school graduates (NCES 2007-468 ). Washington, DC.

In 2009, boys took 12% more AP tests in STEM fields than girls.

College Board, www.collegeboard.com

The National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS) of 1988 found that among 24,500 eighth grade students, girls had less positive attitudes about science despite their equal or higher achievement than boys.

Catsambis, S. (1995). Gender, race, ethnicity, and science education in the middle grades. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 32, 243-257.

A study of female engineering students in the United States revealed that even though only 1% of females attend single-sex secondary schools, 5.7% of engineering students were graduates of girls’ schools.

Goodman, I., Cunningham, C., Lachapelle, C., Thompson, M., Bittinger, K., Brennan, R. T., & Delci, M. (2002). Final report of the Women's Experiences in College Engineering (WECE) project. In G. R. Group (Ed.), (pp. 285). Cambridge, MA: Goodman Research Group.

Only 17% of students taking the AP computer science tests are female.

National Center for Women and Information Technology. (2009).

25% of women with degrees in engineering work out of the field, while only 10% of males with engineering degrees work outside of engineering.

Society of Women Engineers. (April 26, 2006). Attitudes and Experiences of Engineering Alumni. Harris Interactive Market Research.