Structural Sexism And Its Impact On Women's Role In Education

Sociologists have extensively studied the gender gap within the STEM field, while most theorists focus on gender socialization to explain this phenomenon, recently there has been a push to emphasize a more intersectional approach. As stated earlier gender socialization is “ the process of learning the social expectations and attitudes associated with one’s sex” (Chegg). It is built into our culture and it shapes how our society acts. Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a prominent writer who is now seen as a sociologist, who focused in on traditional gender roles and the effect they have on society. Her work Women and Economics looks at how women’s roles in society are not seen as valuable or economically beneficial to society. She states, “Economic progress, however is almost exclusively masculine” (Gilman 1898: 200). As well as stating, “ The male human being is thousands of years in advance of the female in economic status” (Gilman 1898: 200). These quotes show that men are and have been superior to women in an economic stance. Gilman also touched on the idea that, “the labor now performed by the men could not be performed by the women without generations of effort and adaptation” (Gilman 1898: 200). Meaning that even if women were to take over men’s jobs, they would need a lot of time and change to achieve the productivity that men can achieve. This all stems from the ideas that women are not to be working in male dominated jobs, they should be cooking and cleaning. These

The force of societal stereotypes is a large part of this gap. Instead of joining STEM careers, the most common careers among women are secretaries, nurses, and elementary and middle school teachers (Mandell). This truly illustrates that when well-rounded, talented women have the choice, they are inclined to delve into the field in which society expects them to belong. In this way, the stereotype of women not being involved in STEM is forcing less women to be involved in these fields. The deficiency of women in technical fields, despite their well-roundedness and ability, can be directly related to unyielding cultural stereotypes that stigmatize women in supposedly masculine fields.

Moreover, all though “experiencing gender bias … Was mitigated among participants who also had a supportive network of STEM peers” (Robnett 73), due to the small number of women in STEM, this may be a hard task to accomplish (this will be further analyzed later in the study). A male-dominant environment can be difficult for women to permeate, as explained through the Social Identity Theory. This theory states that those in a place of privilege, such as being in the majority, will work to defend this privilege—in this context, this could be seen as men subconsciously seeing women in STEM as a threat. Gender bias in physics and math intensive fields puts women at a disadvantage, and furthermore these “Stereotypes can lead to biased evaluations against women in so-called gender-incongruous contexts, such as in STEM fields in which men have historically been dominant (engineering, physics, economics, computer science, geosciences, and mathematics)” (Ceci et al. 1). Therefore, as can be seen, women studying and working in physics and math-intensive fields face the additional challenges of stepping outside of their prescribed gender roles, permeating a male-dominant environment, and facing a possibly unwelcoming

In his article, “Does Gender Matter?”, Ben A. Barres writes about the apparent absence of women in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields. He starts out the article by informing the reader about a few of the hypotheses that aim to explain this difference in presence, hypotheses that Barres aims to disprove. Barres explains, and at a few points depicts with charts and graphs, the significance of the gap between the amount of white men in the STEM majors and fields of studies and the amount of women and minorities in these same areas. He tell the readers the misconceptions such as the idea that women are inferior in these fields are untrue, and the fact is that woman and minorities are discouraged from entering into these areas

This memo’s purpose is to analyze the intended audience of my sexism in STEM research paper. Below addresses the intended audience and the background and history of the audience with the topic.

One of the most debated topics of this century, or arguably history, is the idea of sexism and its implications on gender roles in society. Sexism is defined as a prejudice or wrong mindset, usually under a negative connotation, of a member of the opposite sex. It usually constrains and limits the actions of the individual or group that the prejudice is being inflicted on - in this case women. It has not been a secret in society that females are often on the low end of the stick when it comes to jobs, societal perception, or even capabilities. In the workplace, they are often perceived to be inferior to males in true academic worth, which is one of the reasons that a majority of the jobs that specialize in the arts, such as journalism or photography, often are female prevalent (Sinkele, C. N. and others, 2011). Females who do manage to make it into the high paying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields, often make noticeably less than their male counterparts. Women are also thought of to be weaker, more emotional, and less ambitious than males; they are often constrained to traditional gender roles of obedient housewives in countries such as India or Pakistan. Nevertheless, many disagree with the concept of sexism in general and argue that many supposed assumptions imposed on females are legit, and therefore make the argument that sexism is unrealistic. Arguments have been made on if sexism even exists in some circumstances; those opposing the concept of

In a time when ladies are progressively noticeable in solution, law, and business, why are there so couple of ladies researchers and specialists? Studies by Corinne A. Moss-Racusin in his journal “Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students” and Eileen Pollack’s Why Are There Still So Few Women in Science presents convincing confirmation that can clarify this riddle. It presents inside and out yet available profiles of eight key exploration discoveries that point to natural and social hindrances that including generalizations, sexual orientation inclination, and the atmosphere of science and building divisions in schools and colleges that keep on blocking ladies' advancement in STEM. The report additionally incorporates measurements

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce in STEM related jobs men outnumber women 76% to 24%. Take that versus all non-STEM fields where men only outnumber women by a small margin, 52% and 48% respectively (Women in STEM). By these sheer numbers alone we can see there is a larger gender gap in STEM related fields than in any other professions. This study also details that most of the women in STEM are involved in the natural sciences. This means that there is a severe lack of women in the computer sciences and math, making up just under a quarter of all women in STEM jobs together.

Ever since the study of mathematics and science has begun, women have been underrepresented in the STEM field. The STEM field is made up of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers. There have been a lot of efforts to increase the number of women in STEM careers; however, men remain dominant in the field. For example, in 2015 women filled 47% of all U.S. jobs, but held only 24% of the STEM careers (Women in STEM, par. 3). Meaning that in 2015 men held 76% of all the STEM careers. The gap between men and women in STEM continues to widen and men continue to dominate the STEM field because the societal stereotype steers women away from STEM careers

In today’s world women can acquire an education, however, gender roles impact what degree program they take even in high school. From an early age, women are taught to be dreamers; that no thought can not be reached if you keep your head focused on your goals, however, they are not directed into dreams involving stem subjects such as math and science. It is thought to be okay if a student “[intends] to drop physics and calculus in her senior year of high school [to take] a drama seminar and a work-study program” (Jacoby 184). Her parents never questioned or thought twice about her decision, perhaps because she was a girl dropping stem for the arts instead of dropping arts for stem. Even if her parents didn’t realize it, they steered their daughter away from stem programs because she felt as if “science and math are ‘masculine’ subjects”, which is what society places in front of young girls that affect their later decisions of steering clear of stem-based degree programs and classes. Gender roles affect society’s intelligence, even if because it is innate and not by meaning

I turned to articles, TED-Talks, and working professionals to learn more about sexism in the STEM fields. To my surprise, women comprise only 24 percent of the STEM workforce when 48 percent of women make up the workforce in the US. My physics class of two girls and eight boys was a microcosm of the field I am going into. My concerns were certainly not uncommon. Many senior female engineers whom I have spoken with have said that they had to work harder to prove their abilities. I also found that many women in the field--whether they are students, engineers, or professors--feel less confident about their skills than they should. I began understanding the pressure surrounding

Until high school, I never knew there was a gender gap in the STEM fields. I thought female scientists were the norm and males typically entered the humanities, because that's what it is in my house. My mom holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology and genetics while my father has a master’s degree in education. I was never raised in an environment that dictated what roles each sex could play in society; if I wanted to be a scientist, I would be a scientist.

Women have come a long way since society suppressed and undermined the rights for women to obtain a job and education. It was not until the 1920s that women had the right to vote, and it was not until later that women had the opportunity of employment and earn equal pay as men. The battle that women have faced and are still facing today has allowed them to obtain an education and acquire careers alongside men. Although granted these opportunities, women still face problems and are underrepresented in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields currently. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics (2011), only 34% of women are employed as physicians and surgeons and 14% are architects and engineers. However,

Gender can be described as a status characteristic, or attribute that individuals possess to varying degrees, and as such, it has certain status beliefs, beliefs which link different status characteristics with varying performance and competency expectations. Gender is a relevant status characteristic in STEM majors because many common status beliefs support the idea that men are more competent and better equipped to excel in STEM majors. Due to the salience of gender in education, teachers can potentially strengthen the gender inequality present in STEM majors. Science instructors, in particular, tend to view their

“Starting from a young age girls are made to believe that their abilities are not sufficient enough to satisfy the requirements in such “complicated” fields and that boys are just more suitable for such jobs. Many are taught that and even if they were to take an interest in such subjects, it would be unnecessary since the fields are male dominated and they would never be able to excel in them. Overall societal pressures and expectations force women to conform to gender norms that hinder their participation and development in STEM fields. Gender inequality in STEM fields reflect a hierarchal system that further