![]() However, what educators do in their classrooms today can help these numbers continue to rise. Of those women pursuing STEM careers, the majority work in health-related jobs, while the percentage of females entering other mathematical, computing and engineering careers has only increased marginally (Fry, 2021). That’s more than the percentage of women in the overall workforce, currently 47% (Fry, 2021) - if only the 5th-century nuns could see us now! Today, a whopping 50% of those working in STEM jobs are female. By 2016, that number grew to over 200,000 - a nearly 43% increase in just 7 years. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), in 2009, just over 140,000 women graduated with STEM degrees. There is no doubt that the number of women in STEM-related fields has increased since the early 1990s. The Present: Inspiring the Next Generation of Females to Pursue STEM Careers ![]() To learn more about some of these female trailblazers, check out our SHEroes of STEM blog post, which follows some of history’s most influential women. With the opening of all-girls colleges, female scientists finally had a chance to work alongside men and obtain clear career paths (Ferry, 2019). In the 19th and 20th centuries, women throughout Europe and the United States began actively campaigning for their rights to equal educational opportunities.Some notable women, such as Émilie du Châtelet and Caroline Herschel, were celebrated for their works in mathematics and astronomy, paving the way for future women in STEM (Ferry, 2019). Women from wealthy families and of noble backgrounds were often allowed to pursue diverse interests ranging from literature to physics. When the Age of Enlightenment dawned, academic pursuits widened.They studied arithmetic, geometry and astronomy, and some nuns even studied herbal medication and wrote books on the natural world (Pak, 2018). Therefore, the earliest female intellectuals were nuns. The only way for women to pursue education was by entering a convent. During this era, education was reserved for two groups of people: privileged young men and religious devotees. The fall of the Roman Empire during the 5th century gave rise to the beginning of the Middle Ages.With that in mind, let’s take a short walk through the history of women’s education, particularly regarding the sciences. One thing, however, is clear: compared to men, women’s academic pursuits and intellectual freedoms have been, if not completely suppressed, consistently inhibited. In the past, the extent of women’s education has varied depending on the region, time and culture. Comprehending the issue of women’s underrepresentation in STEM works in the same way. If the future is our destination, then the past provides the best information for our current location. The Past: A Short History of Women in Education To do this, we need to look at the history of women in STEM. To shape tomorrow into a better place for women in STEM, we need a better understanding of the challenges they face today. So what can we do to increase women’s participation in STEM jobs while inspiring them to meet their fullest potential?īefore we can answer this question, we first need to take a look at how it even came to be. Such jobs often have an enormous impact on the future of our world, making it all the more important that women’s voices are heard across the many STEM fields. According to research conducted by the Pew Research Center, the number of people working in STEM-related jobs increased by 1.8 million between 20, with women accounting for 50% of that workforce (Fry, 2021). Today, more women than ever before are going after their STEM passions and creating a better, stronger future. “The best prophet of the future is the past.” ~ Byron
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