Blog ❯ Diversity in STEM – Why We Need More STEM Programs for Kids
Diversity in STEM – Why We Need More STEM Programs for Kids
When it comes to STEM, the gender gap is a well-documented issue, but this is not the only problem. There’s a huge lack of diversity in STEM when it comes to minority groups and marginalized people, including women of color and people who identify as LGBTQ+. We need a wider variety of accessible STEM programs for kids so that everyone has a shot at being successful in this industry.
Why do we need diversity in STEM?
Scientific research isn’t something that’s typically done alone. Most of the time, problem solving is a group effort, and having diverse opinions and perspectives are important for this. It’s what Professor Scott Page outlines in his book The Difference; intelligence alone does not solve problems, and you need to be able to see the problem differently in order to crack the code. When groups of smart, educated people work hard to solve problems, the group effort is often what causes a breakthrough. Diversity in STEM is the key to achieving excellence.
What does it mean to be part of a minority group?
While women are a minority within the STEM workforce, women who are part of minority groups have even less representation. A minority or minority group is a subgroup of the population with unique social, religious, ethnic, racial, and/or other characteristics that differ from those of a majority group.
In the United States, there are seven key minority and indigenous groupings: Latinx (including Puerto Ricans), African Americans, Asian Americans, Arab and other Middle Eastern Americans, Native Americans, Native Hawai’ians and other Pacific Islanders, and Alaska Natives. In most cases, these groupings include multiple distinct communities. Women from these communities are seen even less in STEM careers.
Women of color in STEM
Averaged across regions, women made up less than a third (29.3%) of people employed in scientific research and development across the world in 2016. The statistics are even more shocking when it comes to women of color – they earn the least amount of STEM degrees in the United States.
In 2017–2018, women of color earned only 14.1% of bachelor’s degrees across all STEM fields, including:
Asian women: 5.3%
Latina women: 4.3%
Black women: 2.9%
American Indian/Alaska Native women: 0.1%
In 2017, women of color made up only 11.5% of science and engineering employees, including:
Asian women: 6.0%
Black women: 2.5%
Latina women: 2.3%
American Indian/Alaska Native women: 0.1%
Research shows girls can excel in STEM subjects when they feel confident in their math and science skills. African American girls even begin showing an inclination toward these fields even earlier than their peers. According to Ruchika Tulshyan:
'“The opportunity cost is huge – black girls reported being more interested in STEM subjects and careers than their white counterparts. More than double the number of African American girls surveyed by CompTIA said computer science was their favorite school subject (42% vs. 20% white respondents.) Half of the black respondents said math was their favorite school subject, compared with 34% of white girls. More importantly, 23% of black girls had considered a career in IT, compared with 19% of white girls. And of those who had considered it, 67% of African American girls vs. 40% of Caucasian girls responded that they were attracted to this career path because they understood how to use different technology.”
The research proves that young girls from minority groups are interested in STEM. It’s our job to encourage them to keep working at it – which is why we need a wider variety of STEM programs for kids.
LGBTQ+ People in STEM
Research suggests that concealing one’s identity can lead to isolation, difficulties maintaining close relationships, and social avoidance; but even in 2022 there are still people out there who struggle to come out in the workplace.
In a 2019 survey of more than 1,000 UK-based physical scientists, nearly 30% of LGBTQ+ scientists and half of transgender scientists said that they had considered leaving their workplace because of an unfriendly or hostile climate or because of discrimination.
Nearly 20% of LGBTQ+ chemists and 32% of transgender and non-binary scientists across all disciplines had experienced exclusionary, offensive, or harassing behavior at work in the previous year.
About half of the respondents agree that there is an overall lack of awareness of LGBTQ+ issues in the workplace.
A 2016 study found that LGBTQ+ undergraduate students are 7% less likely to be retained in STEM fields than are their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts
The struggle of hiding your identity has detrimental impacts on one’s health, happiness, and productivity, in addition to businesses talent retention and leadership development. This causes people to leave their jobs, leading to less and less diversity in the workplace.
What can we do to help?
We can start by supporting organizations that encourage underrepresented girls and women from minority groups to get involved with STEM. Here are a couple of groups that are determined to help girls explore STEM careers:
Girlstart offers K-12 programs for girls interested in STEM. Girls from kindergarten through 12th grade can participate in six core STEM programs. The organization pays for over 500 girls to attend the annual Girls in STEM Conference.
Rails Girls is an international movement started by Linda Liukas and Karri Saarinen that opens up the world of technology to girls and women through free weekend-long events. The nonprofit also runs the Rails Girls Summer of Code, a paid global fellowship that offers women and nonbinary coders a three-month internship to work on open-source projects.
Girls Who Code helps girls learn technological and coding skills to help them in STEM careers. The organization hopes to build America’s biggest pipeline of female engineers.
GOALS for Girls (Greater Opportunities Advancing Leadership and Science) is a program run by the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York. The program offers multiple different ways for girls to get involved in STEM, like summer camps, weekend science forums, and internships.
National Girls Collaborative Project’s goal is to make sure that all girls have access to resources which enhance STEM education and interest. It primarily serves as a network by which 36,400 different programs and organizations collaborate to help girls achieve gender equality in STEM careers.
Women Who Code provides resources and holds events, helping create leadership opportunities where women in STEM can be represented.
Million Women Mentors’ goal is to increase the engagement and confidence among girls in STEM through mentorship. The nationwide organization connects more than one million STEM mentors to a network of volunteer-run organizations across 40-plus states that represents 30 million girls and women.
Black Girls Code serves African American, Latinx, and Native American girls by cultivating an environment in which they can learn coding skills and computer science. The organization has partnered with large companies such as Google and FedEx to make a difference in the lives of young girls who want to pursue STEM careers.
The New York Academy of Science’s 1000 Girls, 1000 Futures program aims to increase the number of women in STEM roles through mentoring and skills development. Any girl worldwide between the ages of 13 and 18 who is currently enrolled in high school can take part and receive one-on-one mentoring from professional scientists and engineers. Networking opportunities and development-focused coursework are also available, as is a book club. Best of all, everything happens online on a moderated platform.
SHINE for Girls is an after-school math program that uses dance-based kinesthetic learning, which relies on active moment, to teach math to young girls. Incorporating movement into the process helps students grasp concepts with more clarity and retain more information. The program gets girls excited about math, boosts their confidence, and helps them get better at working in teams—all while becoming better dancers too!
Digital Youth Divas is an after-school program that facilitates girls’ participation in engineering and computer science-based activities and focuses specifically on empowering girls from underrepresented communities. Since 2013, Digital Youth Divas has helped 300 girls discover STEM and improve their skills.
BestColleges is an organization that focuses on providing students with direct connections to schools and programs suited to their educational goals. As a trusted education advisor, BestColleges also host free college planning, financial aid, and career resources to help all students get the most from their education and prepare for life after college. Additionally, they aim to help underrepresented groups break into new fields. Check out these scholarships for women in STEM.
The article “Women in STEM: 20 Organizations Working to Close Tech’s Gender Gap” by Fullstack Academy shares even more organizations that are getting girls involved in tech.
STEM is for ALL girls
We pride ourselves on inclusivity and diversity when it comes to our edutainment-based STEM programs for kids. It’s so important that girls from a wide variety of backgrounds see that they can thrive in STEM and do just as well as boys. When we say STEM is for THEM, we mean STEM is for ALL girls!
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