GENDER DISPARITY IN FIGURES:
– Only 6% of top 100 tech companies have women CEOs
– Only 9% of apps are developed by women
– Almost 90% of electronic goods in the world are created by men
– 10-15% high level managers are women
– Women hold only 20% of positions in energy sectors, and are non-tech related
TOKYO – What would you tell your daughter if she told you she wanted to become an engineer, or a scientist, or even a physicist?
If you’re a father, you are more likely to believe that your girl has the right to do anything she chooses.
But if you’re a mother, you’ll probably want your daughter to be happy, and being in a field that is dominated by men seems to be the last thing you want her to do.
According to Professor Averil Macdonald from the University of Reading, mothers tend to have stereotypical views of what the science world is and are cautious about their daughters entering a world where she may not be happy.
On top of that, girls are often faced with different expectations from parents and teachers. This in turn has a major influence on their confidence level and what they are capable of doing.
This mindset needs changing if the world is to see more women being involved in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
Women have historically been underrepresented in the STEM fields and the United Nations has been looking at this gap as an opportunity.
Besides gender imbalance, the earnings of a female graduate is significantly lesser than men.
In Singapore, only 29 per cent of women are researchers, according to a 2015 UNESCO report on Women in Science. Malaysia had the highest proportion of female researchers (49 per cent) in Asia, while Japan ranked the lowest at 14 per cent.
Seeing an urgent need to address the gender disparity in the science field, the Japanese government launched a Women’s Initiative in Developing STEM Career (WINDS) at the G7 Ise-Shima Summit in May.
At a panel discussion on the second day of World Assembly for Women 2016 (WAW! 2016) held in Tokyo this week, the main challenge identified was the need to address stereotypical views of career choices.
And it all begins at the family level.
“Teachers are the greatest influence of the subject choice of girls, while families are creating influence on career choice,” said Prof Macdonald on Wednesday.
She added that the UK had failed at getting girls interested in science and discovered that they had made no improvement over the years.
Another reason she identified was that teachers in the UK tend to be biased and will recommend choices for girls which are “stereotypically ‘girl’ choices”.
The influence of a family on a girl’s career choice mirrors that of data gathered from the recent Programme for International Student Assessment, or Pisa survey, conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Girls are less confident when it has to do with science and this has to do with the expectations that parents and teachers have on them.
“Parents feel boys should go for engineering, science, maths and ICT (information and communication technology), and girls should go for healthcare related careers within STEM,” said Ms Montserrat Gomendio, deputy director for the directorate for education and skills at OECD.
Ms Gomendio added that the Pisa survey also showed a higher proportion of women graduates than men in most countries, but this does not translate into career choices.
Businesses need to take responsibility too
There is also a need for businesses to look at communicating what it means to fit in an industry or organisation that is predominantly male.
Prof Macdonald said: “For any woman applying for a job, she will often ask ‘can I fit in?’. This is specific for females. If we know we cannot fit in, we go somewhere else.
“Businesses need to look at this and make it clear on how she will fit into the STEM world, otherwise she will take her talent somewhere else.”
“This is pivotal and we need to be clear in articulating the business case in diversity. It is a pragmatic business case,” he added.
The onus is on companies to address this at the human resource level.
Principal consultant at Environmental Resources Management in Japan, Ms Rebecca Green, said: “We struggle with the lack (of women), they’re (women) just not there.
“We don’t take responsibility that’s necessary for communicating and working with education and government sectors, to translate what it means for women to be in an engineering and science role, and show girls what it means. If you ask an 8-year-old girl to ask their parents what a chemical engineer does, their parents may not know.
“But what the businesses can do is to come in and tell them that,” said Ms Green.
klim@sph.com.sg
AsiaOne editor Karen Lim is attending the WAW! 2016 conference held on Dec 13 and 14 in Tokyo as the Singapore representative under invitation by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
