Gender bias in STEM: A conversation with USC professors
By: Sophia Terry
Careers in STEM are some of the fastest-growing and lucrative worldwide. These jobs are innovative and transformative, yet only a quarter of women enter the field.
Societal norms and gender stereotypes perpetuate the misconception that girls lack interest or promise in science, technology, engineering and math, and that only men can succeed in these careers.
Girls need encouragement to combat these deeply rooted gender stereotypes, as well as given a clear identifiable route into STEM sectors. Studies show that young women who have role models in STEM are 50% more interested in STEM-related jobs.
The USC faculty is filled with world-renowned experts in their fields and many of them are women. A few of them sat down for interviews to discuss the topic of the gender gap in STEM.
Theresa Hernandez is a Ph.D student at USC, with a focus on equity in STEM. When discussing gender bias in research she said, “Research is what is at the forefront of knowledge production. It’s really important that our[women’s] ways of seeing, our lived experiences, are permeating that space”
Shinyi Wu, a professor at USC said she thinks “an environment that is more diverse can help broaden our perspectives and get more well-rounded thinking.”
It has been proven that having less diversity in research groups inhibits the ability of those groups to move forward, as more diverse research groups have been proven to be more effective than those that are all white or all male.
Despite the societal notions of women in STEM, in recent years the gender gap has been closing. And as more women follow STEM career paths, they support their peers and have helped diversify the workplace.
Programs like Girls Who Code and STEM for Her, younger girls are learning about all the possibilities a career in STEM can hold.
Lilyana Amezcua, professor of neurology said “we can provide the same treatments, we can get there the same way, or even exceed more. Women can be anything they want to be.”
