My Experience of Women in STEM
An article by Isabella Odogu, one of three winners of Oxbridge Inspire’s STEM writing competition 2018.
The topic of women and girls in STEM is an undeniably important one, but I find myself asking, “Why is it still an issue today?”.
In my personal experience, it seems that there are plenty of girls and women in the field: at high school I had two female science teachers — one taught Physics and the other Biology. Similarly, once I went to sixth form, I discovered that most of the teachers within the science department at my college are women, and I have no male teachers in any of my subjects. As well as this, a greater proportion of my classmates in Biology and Chemistry are girls: in my Biology class there are four boys compared to thirteen girls.
The prevalence of females within STEM, particularly science, is significant in my day-to-day life. I often wonder why there are seemingly so few women involved in the field outside of education. Courses -such as Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences - are very popular among young women at university, so what happens to them all once they finish their degrees? Why is there such a dramatic difference between the number of women studying STEM subjects and the number of women who work within the field? Why does the popularity of these subjects not translate into industry?
Perhaps, these women believe that they would be discriminated against in industry and so are deterred from entering certain jobs or maybe a job, such as a research post, would be interrupted by life events like having a child, so they think that it isn’t worth pursuing a career like this. Whatever their reasons, a large proportion of women who have studied STEM subjects are not transferring their skills into industry, but instead are focusing on education.
Now, female STEM graduates may just happen to be more inclined to want to
teach, but from experience the field is such a fascinating, ever-changing one that I personally would want to go on to do further research and develop new and exciting ideas. I have no doubt that my Biology and Chemistry teachers are very talented scientists and they are clearly very passionate about their subjects, so why did they choose to spend the rest of their lives teaching 16- to 19-year olds instead of making potentially life-changing discoveries or earning a fortune by working with crude oil?
I think the issue of women in STEM is no longer about getting female students
involved generally, but specifically getting them to become researchers and/or enter industry. Teaching is not a negative thing, but we desperately need more innovative female members of the STEM community, who can contribute to their respective fields and possibly revolutionise the industry.
Oxbridge Inspire delivers innovative STEM education and provides guidance and inspiration to young people wishing to pursue STEM subjects at University and beyond. To find out more about Oxbridge Inspire and the courses and activities we offer, visit our website.
