Page 6 - Partnerships_Flate_F_Digital-Pages

DEFINING CHALLENGES & BARRIERS

“Governments and companies should do more to attract and retain women and people
from other underrepresented groups to science-related fields,”
Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors.

100%
CURRENT STATUS
53% 80%

Gender bias in STEM fields continues to persist 76%
despite decades of efforts to reverse this 60%
disparity. The number of men in STEM
40%
careers, particularly at the higher levels
of STEM professions, is much higher than 47% 20%
that of women. According to a 2017 study 24%
published by the U.S. Department of
0%
Commerce there is an equal number of All Jobs STEM Jobs
women holding undergraduate degrees Source: OCE calculations using American Community Survey public-use microdata.
Note: Estimates are for employed persons age 16 and over.
as men, but they make up only 30% of
Figure 2
all STEM degree holders. The same study
also states women comprise 47% all of U.S. jobs, but held only 24% of STEM jobs.
In other words, as depicted in Figure 2 above, a typical STEM worker is about half as
likely to be a woman as a member of the overall workforce.

Gender bias also extends in yearly earnings. There is robust evidence that women earn
less than men. According to the report published by U.S. Department of Commerce and
as depicted in Figure 3, for every dollar earned by a man in a STEM-related job, a woman
earns 84 cents, a gender gap of 16 percent.

$37.69 Men $40
Figure 3 16% gender wage gap: Women
$31.59 For every dollar earned by a man,
women in STEM earn $0.84
$30
$22.56
$18.17 $20

$10

$0
STEM Jobs Non-STEM Jobs

2