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Tuesday, May. 3, 2022

Are there still gender disparities in STEM education?

EconoFact, Econofact
yes

While women earn close to half of all bachelor’s degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), there is wide variation in women’s representation across fields. In 2017, 49% of all bachelor’s degrees in science and engineering were awarded to women. This number masks substantial gender disparities across fields, however. Women earned two-thirds of bachelor’s degrees in life sciences, psychology, and social science fields — 62% in biology, 78% in psychology, and 61% in social science. In contrast, women represented only slightly more than one quarter of degree recipients in the combined math-intensive fields of geoscience (39%), engineering (22%), economics (32%), mathematics (42%), computer science (19%), and the physical sciences (40%).   

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EconoFact is a non-partisan publication designed to bring key facts and incisive analysis to the national debate on economic and social policies. Launched in January 2017, it is written by leading academic economists from across the country who belong to the EconoFact Network. It is published by the Edward R. Murrow Center for a Digital World at The Fletcher School at Tufts University.

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