Why Is Gender Diversity Important in STEM?

Nikita Washington is a Black, transgender woman in UX design who empowers transgender sex workers to pursue tech careers. She said that because of the lack of gender diversity in tech, people are missing out on financial security, an accepting space, and a better future.

Washington believes that the more visibility gender-diverse people have in the field, the more people with diverse perspectives will get into STEM and tech.

We don’t give hope the credit it deserves, Washington said. Simply knowing that there are people like them out there doing the damn thing really can be that glimmer of hope that can jumpstart someone else’s journey.

Read on to learn why having more people like Washington in STEM is better for everyone.

Gender diversity is the equal representation of different genders — women, men, and nonbinary people — in academia and the workplace. Unfortunately, the STEM field has long lacked gender diversity. In the U.S., men received over 100,000 more bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields in 2019-20 than women, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

This disparity shows up in career data as well, with U.S. women making up 27% of STEM workers in 2019.

With a median annual wage of over $95,000, increasing the number of women and nonbinary people in STEM may help close the gender pay gap. Through visibility, encouragement in the classroom, and resisting sex and gender discrimination, STEM fields can bridge the gender diversity gap.

Gender diversity in the workplace has numerous benefits, including bringing new perspectives to STEM, filling gaps in a growing workforce with skilled workers, and growing the economy.

Gender bias in science is when scientific studies represent only a single gender. This one-size-fits-all approach impacts marginalized communities because it ignores the different healthcare needs of women, nonbinary people, and racial and ethnic minorities.

In 1993, Congress passed legislation that required women and racial minorities to be included in clinical trials. While significant progress has been made toward gender-inclusive research, some scientists and medical researchers argue that gender bias still exists in clinical trials, particularly in regard to how men and women respond differently to medications. Bringing gender diversity to research teams leads to different perspectives, contributing to more diverse studies and outcomes.

Women now make up almost half of all math and life sciences workers, but only about 25% of computer workers and 15% of engineers. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, engineering jobs make up the majority (80%) of all STEM occupations. With STEM jobs projected to grow 11% over the next decade, women and nonbinary workers are needed to fill the growing STEM workforce gap.

Scholars who studied the lack of representation of women in engineering and computing suggested advancing research on:

Some ways to build gender diversity in the growing STEM workforce include:

Women are earning more bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields than they were two decades ago and have made progress in some fields more than others. However, biases may discourage women and nonbinary people from entering STEM fields — even when they’re qualified.

When health-related fields are included in the definition of STEM, women are the majority, with women earning 85% of health-related bachelor’s degrees in 2018, according to a Pew Research study. Here’s how those achievements line up in other majors:

Research has studied the various factors that may lead women to leave STEM fields, including feeling a lack of self-confidence and belonging due to gender discrimination and stereotypes.

In a 2016 research study, students in an introductory biology course were given a survey to rate their peers on their class performance. It was found that the male students disproportionately nominate males as being knowledgeable about biology while females nominate males and females equally.

Another benefit of gender diversity in STEM is the economic growth that can occur by filling gaps in the workforce. Specifically, the computing industry needs more workers due to the rapid projected job growth over the next decade.

A research report by Accenture and Girls Who Code argues that by having computing classes and a support system in place tailored specifically to girls in junior high and continuing through college, the number of women in computing jobs could grow from 24% to 39% and generate $299 billion in cumulative earnings.

In general, having more women in the workforce, leads to higher productivity and increased wages for both men and women, according to an analysis by a University of Akron economics professor, who found that for every 10% increase in women working between 1980 and 2010, there was a 5% increase in wages. Thus, it’s likely that increasing gender diversity in STEM will have economic benefits for all genders and society as a whole.

Washington said that if more cis-women, transgender-women, and nonbinary individuals get into STEM and tech, it can help other people like them — like the transgender sex workers who Washington strives to help.

You have to move forward and understand that by breaking down those barriers, you’re showing other people who are coming up under you that it’s doable, Washington said.