When STEM is Forced on Girls
Growing up in Los Angeles, I’ve been told that girls can do anything they set their minds to, especially STEM: science, technology, engineering, and math, the decided holy grail of intellect and success for 21st-century women. And while math, science, and computer technology undoubtedly belong hand-in-hand with art and humanities in a core secondary education, forcing STEM on girls guilts women into unwanted careers and perpetuates gender inequality.
In her opinion piece “Girls in STEM culture is failing both girls and STEM” from Canada’s The Star, former computer scientist Cleoniki Kesidis wrote, “The Girls in STEM culture guilted me. The statistics on girls who ‘stop liking math’ and women who quit STEM were cited to me as tragedies.” Kesidis continued, “I became another statistic and another bad example that women who do truly love STEM have to live down.” Kesidis’ experience in this unwanted career path negatively affected not only her life but society’s understanding of women in the STEM field.
The 2018 New York Times report “Where Boys Outperform Girls In Math: Rich, White, & Suburban Districts” noted minor disparities between girls’ and boys’ achievement in math. “In no district do boys, on average, do as well or better than girls in English and language arts.” Still, STEM continues to be pressured on girls while boys are encouraged to explore the field of their choice, regardless of general statistics. That doesn’t sound like equality to me.
Yes, pony-tailed biologists in bedazzled lab coats are amazing, but equally so are female chefs, air force pilots, or—my personal aspiration—historians. Growing up under the impression that female experts in History Channel documentaries shouldn’t be celebrated as ones in National Geographic has been isolating, to say the least. There’s a blurred line between female empowerment and STEM, when the real priority should be helping girls achieve their dreams, whatever they may be. The gender parity is not—and has never been—exclusive to the STEM field.
The online article “Why We Need More Women in STEM” from Built By Me, a New Jersey center for children’s STEM learning admits, “We need more women in STEM… to fill the surplus of jobs. In fact, more women are needed across all labor markets, in general. The study analyzed a ‘full potential’ scenario. In it, women occupy an identical role to their male counterparts across all fields globally. ”
While modern educational trends conclude that STEM is the path to equality, the over-emphasis on STEM only puts girls at a disadvantage. Instead of forcing young women, like myself, into unwanted careers, schools should be fostering our genuine interests. Only by doing so, can we build a future of passionate, empowered girls.
Ilena is passionate about stories— especially histories— good snacks, and bad puns. She has been on Spyglass for a very long time. Ilena is a senior.
D • Nov 25, 2021 at 12:52 pm
The push for women is just that, not a nudge of confidence for women who really want to join, but a push of reluctant women into fields they don’t want to be in.
The answer is, and always has been, up the worth of all fields as opposed to placing worth only on STEM and medicine fields. How about instead of forcing everyone into STEM we value the arts fields and others with less economic value?
I am in my 3rd year of a CS bachelors and have a trade school AAS. Engineering is a pool of masochists who work like slaves (not much different from medicine). I am someone who has programmed for thousands of hours in my free time and even then engineering school has made me depressed. I cannot imagine someone being forced to do it.
Bryan • Jan 7, 2021 at 9:18 am
I personally feel that the drive to push girls/women into the STEM disciplines is nothing more than a socio-political move to create a false sense of equality in a male-dominated arena. I am a skeptic as it concerns the matters of equality in general. If we only look at people as numbers and the masks they wear that show their group identification, then certainly we will think that equality is a reasonable goal. However, what isn’t explained well enough is that the form of equality that implies is forced or illegitimate. This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve employed such a tactic when it concerns trying to achieve balance.
“Affirmative Action” was meant to prevent racism in the workplace, but what it’s become is a way to completely overwhelm otherwise good people with jobs they were simply not qualified to have in the first place. Hiring on basis of race is unfair, as we should be able to say…unless it’s a black man, then it’s okay. It’s not okay, particularly when a company is setting that man up for failure because they were only trying to meet a quota and not get ‘the right person for the job.’ The poor guy fails because he really wasn’t ready for it and now finds himself looking for a job once again.
College admissions tests used to be pretty tough. They were designed to separate the worthy from the not worthy. However, this is 2021 and we’ll have none of that standard anymore. Colleges like Harvard University and several in California look beyond the performance of the student and consider ‘hardships’ and personal happenings that are also being taken into consideration. In essence, if you’re a disadvantaged person, here’s some major advantage.
I’m not convinced that these measures create true balance. It’s artificial and forced, coming straight from the ‘social justice’ playbook. You stated correctly that “schools should be fostering (women’s) genuine interests.” If a girl in high school wants to ignore STEM, then let her. She shouldn’t also be told that she’s hurting all of womankind by not ‘doing what the guys are doing.’ It’s all rubbish and no sensible woman should have to hear it or put up with it.
Ariel • Jul 9, 2020 at 7:48 am
Wow, good points all around, Ilena