Introduction
The current situation in the world of work puts many people under challenging conditions. The problems emerging in this area require special attention, and there are many such problems: low employment, unemployment, and discrimination. Discrimination is justifiably ranked among modern society’s most destructive and harmful social phenomena. Most often, women are discriminated against, especially when concluding employment contracts. The STEAM professions are stereotypically comprehended as men’s specialties, which results in increased gender discrimination in the workplace.
Professions in STEAM Jobs in the Present Society
Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) is a range of professions that include narrow technical, scientific, art, and engineering specialties. Each of the directions mentioned has a scope of varied specialties. For example, the science professions include physics, geology, biotechnologists, and others. The technology fraction impedes the domain in the IT sphere, for example, data scientists and program developers. Engineering fraction includes robotic systems engineers, small aircraft production engineers, telemetry data interpreters, and others.
The art sphere combines directors, writers, painters, and specialties of today, all specialties connected to the creative process. The math direction allocates data to research analysts, statisticians, financial analysts, and others. Therefore, STEAM unites all the well-developing today’s specialties. Discrimination at the workplace can be found in any of the STEAM directions. STEAM jobs are paid well and are considered to be the jobs of the future. With the development of new technologies, manufacturing industries will require additional technical and technological skills. STEM knowledge areas are crucial to developing the Fourth Industrial Revolution and solving the problem of climate change, and STEM-related jobs are growing significantly faster than anyone else.
The Main Problem that Women Face in Steam
The gender-related discrimination problem is usually related to STEM, while in the sphere of Art, many women can work as self-employed, avoiding discrimination. Further on, the abbreviation STEM will be used as far as women encounter problems in these spheres. Such a separation is caused by deep-rooted social and cultural norms, stereotypes, and behavior patterns that prevent women from enjoying their fundamental rights to equal chances, opportunities, and education in STEM disciplines. Discrimination does not occur during an interview or an exam – it has been formed for years in schools and even kindergartens. The proportion of women in STEM jobs remains low, especially in high-skill positions. The gender gap begins already at the level of higher education. Discrimination is not only the problem of employers but also employed women who believe their skills are not worth advancing. Women tend to occupy and are preferred to be appointed to more general, less technical positions in the lower segment of management positions. As a result, women are much more likely to be in lower positions than men, regardless of age.
One of the primary reasons why women have lagged is due to stereotypes of school subjects. The idea that men innately possess better amplitude towards science-dominant fields, while women naturally excel in languages, has shortchanged women to realize the true nature of their ability (Fujii et al., 2021). Lingering gender stereotypes has remained in most schools and colleges. For example, most colleges and universities have preferred men to take courses such as computer science and software engineering due to their masculine nature. In other cases, there is always biasness in the choice of subjects as most institutions have the traditional view of some subjects as either feminine or masculine. This trend has led fewer women to pursue professionals aligned with the STEM field.
Recommendation to the Challenge
Government and local administration should call for concrete and meaningful action to achieve gender equality in STEM, action to challenge stereotypes and social norms that perpetuate discrimination and subordination of women. The focus of efforts should include two central directions: training women and control of discrimination during the hiring process. It can be supposed that unions and administrations want to bring these women into their ranks, and many of them are engineers and white-collar workers. Therefore, the first recommended solution is to develop a specific training strategy to help women overcome the fear of being stigmatized. Women at a tender age should be allowed to participate in active, hands-on practices in science laboratories. The mechanism will help enrich these students with the skills and attitudes critical for their growth.
The second option that can help minimize the discrimination against women in STEM is the governmental control of the hiring process. Trade unions should advocate for transparent, open, and accountable recruitment processes. The problem of conscious and subconscious bias in hiring new workers, especially in technical professions, needs to be addressed. It can be achieved by enabling the HR specialists who control the lawful hiring process for both men and women.
Conclusion
The stigmatization of women in the sphere of STEM is one of the significant social problems that should be addressed rapidly. Therefore, the step-by-step instructions on how to start reinforcing the problem of gender inequality in STEM consist of three steps. The first step is to design the program to help the educator avoid gender stereotypes, which can help to minimize the number of traumatized women. The second step is to create a training program to allow women to encounter the STEM sphere. The third step is to organize the governmental procedures for checking gender biases during the hiring process.
References
Li, Y., Wang, K., Xiao, Y., & Froyd, J. E. (2020). Research and trends in STEM education: A systematic review of journal publications. International Journal of STEM Education, 7(1), 1-16. Web.