Women in (and out of) the STEM Workforce
Recent studies of scientists, engineers, and technologists in business and high-tech industries have found that women in these fields have higher attrition rates than their male peers and women in other occupations.
The Center for Work-Life Policy at Harvard University found that women scientists, engineers, and technologists are fairly well represented at the lower rungs on corporate ladders, making up 41 percent of workers. More than half (52 percent), however, quit their jobs by midcareer — about 10 years after starting. High-tech companies in particular lost 41 percent of their women employees, compared with only 17 percent of their male employees. Women cited feelings of isolation, unsupportive work environments, extreme work schedules, and unclear rules about advancement and success as major factors in their decisions to leave.
In 2006, the Society of Women Engineers conducted a retention study of more than 6,000 individuals who earned an engineering degree between 1985 and 2003. One-quarter of women engineers surveyed were either not employed at all or not employed in engineering or a related field, while only one-tenth of men surveyed had left the engineering field.
A recent study of women engineers from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, found that nearly half of women who had left engineering said they did so because of working conditions, too much travel, lack of advancement, or low salary. One in three women said they left because they did not like the workplace climate, their bosses, or the culture. And, contrary to recent reports suggesting that family is the main reason women leave STEM, only one in four said they left to spend time with family.
In your experience, what about STEM workplaces discourages women scientists and engineers from staying?
That's a very interesting question. Does anyone know of any companies founded by women engineers?
As a biological scientist, I can't comment as an engineer. However, I'm curious about the retention rates of women in companies founded by women engineers...
