The challenge extends beyond universities.The study highlights a further decline in female representation at prestigious institutions like the IITs, IISc, and TIFR. It also sheds light on the lack of women speakers at STEM conferences and the concerning trend of female faculty leaving STEM careers as they progress.
To study gender representation, the researchers collected faculty data from the websites of 98 universities and institutes between June 2020 and December 2021. Additionally, they investigated the participation of women in STEM conferences by examining the gender breakdown of presenting authors listed on poster announcements at 417 conferences.
The study revealed a significant variation in women’s representation across STEM disciplines. Engineering faculties showed the sharpest gender gap, with only 9.2% female faculty. This contrasts with biology, where women comprised 25.5% of faculty, the highest proportion observed. The authors suggest this difference might be linked to perceptions of biology as a “softer” science compared to engineering, physics, computer science, and chemistry, which all hovered around 11.5% to 13% female faculty. Earth sciences and mathematics fared slightly better with 14.4% and 15.8% women, respectively.
5 reasons why women representation is low in STEM faculty
Social Bias Against Women in Certain STEM Fields
Fields like Biology, considered “soft science,” have a higher proportion of women faculty compared to “hard” sciences like Engineering, Physics, and Computer Science. This bias discourages women from pursuing these fields in higher education and research. Societal expectations can push them towards fields perceived as more feminine.
Lack of Support During Postdoc to Faculty Transition
The crucial postdoc to faculty transition often coincides with family planning. Societal pressure often prioritizes family over career ambitions for women, leaving them with a difficult choice and a lack of support structures to navigate both.
Toxic Workplace Environment
Many senior women leave STEM academia due to a toxic work environment. This could include being disrespected, lacking access to necessary resources, or facing limited advancement opportunities compared to male colleagues. This discourages women from pursuing long-term careers in STEM universities.
Difficulty Accessing Gender Representation Data
There’s no central database tracking women faculty in STEM across India. This lack of data makes it hard to understand the extent of the gender gap and track progress towards equality.
Lack of Resources and Leadership Commitment
Achieving gender equity requires dedicated resources and strong leadership commitment, which are currently lacking. Without clear financial and policy support, initiatives to improve women’s representation in STEM struggle to gain momentum.