Education Week’s College Bound Blogger, Caralee Adams, highlights what most female educators know: Our gender is under represented in STEM educational programs. across the board! Adams quotes the results from a research study released this month that points to a ratio disparity of “one [female] in four students in STEM” and “fewer than one in six students in CTE programs.” The academic paths in STEM fields continue to be dominated by male students and contributes to the wage gaps between genders.
Introducing young female students to STEM career paths should start in early grades while educators carefully guard against the “unitentional bias in mentoring or advising” that jeopordizes the advancement of closing the gender gap in CTE and STEM programs. Teachers should consider the advantage of introducing an integrative curriculum that engages all students and encourages all students to equally dream and aspire to future careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics regardless of their gender.
Educators in classrooms across America hold the key to making a difference in the quality, content, and more importantly, in the method in which we deliver instruction looking to enhance our delivery to engage all learners equally.
Look for ways to participate in STEM development seminars/programs in your county, state, and national levels. Keep your eyes open to phenomenal opportunities to bring experiential learning into your learning style. Stay informed, involved, and in touch with resources available to help you close the current gap in female participants in STEM and CTE programs. Together we can make a difference one student at a time!
Check out these great links and the excerpt from Education Weekly below:
http://changetheequation.org/sites/default/files/CTEq_VitalSigns_Supply%20%282%29.pdf A report on the current condition of STEM Learning in the U.S.
Education Weekly http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/college_bound/2013/03/women_and_girls_lacking_in_career_stem_programs.html?qs=STEM
By Caralee Adams on March 22, 2013 12:02 PM
Women and girls are sorely missing from programs that prepare students for lucrative careers in the STEM fields—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—as well as other high-paying skilled trades.
Female students comprise fewer than one in four students in STEM career and technical education programs, and fewer than one in six students in CTE programs related to manufacturing, architecture, and construction, according to research released today prepared by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, along with the National Coalition of Women and Girls in Education and others.
It’s not that women and girls are opting out of CTE programs. They are just more likely to pursue other occupations, such as child-care workers or hairdressers. The report says 80 percent of students at the postsecondary level enrolled in “human services” CTE programs.
As a result, the wage gap by gender continues. For instance, a hairdresser makes about $10.85 per hour, compared with $18.36 for someone working in an automotive body and related repair field. Advocates note that getting more women into these higher-paying jobs is an issue of economic security.
“It is important that training for higher-paying occupations includes women and girls, and that girls are introduced to nontraditional careers, particularly in STEM fields, at a young age,” said Barbara Gault, vice president and executive director of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, a member organization of the NCWGE, in a press statement. “To secure strong futures for girls we need to address obstacles to high-paying careers, such as sexual harassment in the classroom or unintentional bias in mentoring or advising.”
The report suggests that efforts to diversify CTE programs under the federal Perkins Career and Technical Education Act is making a difference. The law promotes gender equity in training programs and holds states accountable for female student participation. The report includes several recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the Perkins Act when it is next reauthorized by Congress.
Mangual Price -- STEM Education Research 