Finally! I am almost done with my capstone project! All that is left to do is present to my family. I worked really hard to make my presentation the very best it can be. I know it sounds cringy, but hear me out, when you have worked on a presentation for so long you become proud and a little bit attached to it. I can not believe that 2 months ago I was just deciding on my topic! I bet you want to see it! so, here it is, but In my final script I changed a few things:
Who and how are the women treated? Well, women are treated like this all the time, weather it is by a man in the same position, or higher up. STEM jobs have been reported to have many unique experiences. One is feeling like they are not capable. Most earn even less then men with the same gob. This information is found by the pew research center. A study by them shows, STEM work environment is different. It can be more aggressive towards women then men. Another study says, In computer jobs specifically, about ¾ of them say that they have experienced discrimination. Usually related to gender. Some problems have been going on for decades. Women have said they feel like they are not included. Especially when compared to the men. Women also say they do not get a lot of respect. They also have to more and harder to make any accomplishment. Lots of studies by different people have said that women get paid less than women. Men are more likely to hold higher up positions, as well as, gat what they want all the time. For women that is much harder.
Gender equality is still a big problem for the U.N. There was an advancement, so now women will have equal access to work. It is mostly men that treat women badly. Partly because they feel more domonant. Awhile ago, women were told to keep quiet and do house chores. They were also expected to have husbands.
I interviewed Christine Queally, a medical scientist. She told me about her last job before the secure one she has now. She said kin her last job there was a club. You had to be in the club to be listened to, or even respected. If you were not, your ideas were not often used and you barely got to say anything. She was very happy to move jobs.
What obstacles did schools and education present? Rosalind Franklin is well known scientist around the world. When Rosalind was in collage, she did not count as a full student. No woman did. A lot of times women did nt even go to school. They stayed home while their husbands were at school or work. Schools would often not let women/girls go to their school. If they did, the living quarters were really bad. The men’s were not only nicer, but larger than the women’s. The only reason that the men payed attention was because they wanted to see if they would make good wives.
Young girls have less women in STEM to look up to. A lot of science is math. Teachers , who are mostly women, a lot of time have math anxiety and they pass it on to girls. They think girls have to work harder to get to the same place as boys.
How did women deal with and respond to this way of being treated? When Marie Curie was in france with her husband, they knew that no one would care for her findings. So they worked in the basement of their house. When Marie’s daughter, Irene was born, Marie started working at the Ecole Normale Superieure to support her family. After they moved their lab to a shed. Marie came up with all of her ideas on her own, and never gave up. In WW 1, she opened mobile radiology units to study the effects radiation had on tumors. She is one of the pioneers of women in science.
Did women band together? Women started to band together when a law in Colonial America passed, saying that women could not keep money, or own property. They worked together to make their own clubs. In 1869 women shoe workers built their own union together.
Some women , like Marie Curie worked with their spouses or other family members . A lot of women scientists have role models. Rosalind franklin’s Aunt Alice was a leader in the British Suffrage movement. Her Aunt Mamie, was known for driving her own car around town. At the time women were supposed to be like dolls, very controlled. So, driving was a big no-no.
What are the statistics of women in science today? Women are definitely underrepresented in STEM. even though they make up 47% of total workforce. Even construction companies have more women employed than STEM jobs. There are only 29% women in stem labor, 19% on stem company boards and only 3% CEos In STEm. Half of all biologists are women. STEM Board positions rose 18% in 2020. Women’s applications for science colleges increase 2% yearly. according to the global average girls get better scores in science than boys. Women only make up 5% of all mathematic and statistics college students, Globally! Christine Also said that, Men make more money.
Over all, I think that women are under represented in STEM, but so many are trying to change that. I talked about, who and how women are treated, what obstacles did education and school present, how women deal with this way of being treated, did women band together and the statistics of women in STEM today. Women and girls are good at STEM.