The acronym STEM used in schools and by careers advisors represents Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics- the fastest growing and most lucrative career sectors in the future. STEM also represent industries which are under-represented by women.
STEAM (with the addition of Arts), are the projects my daughter and I enjoy even prior to hearing this term, as my aim is to encourage a life-long love of learning. The world is an exciting place and there is so much to discover.
We have enjoyed hours of fun doing Harry Potter themed chemistry experiments, watching National Geographic documentaries on the construction of cutting edge and beautiful bridges going from the architects drawing board to testing the capabilities of the engineers and the limits of the latest technology. We invite curiosity, note our observations and have tried our hand at coding.
Why?
The aim is not simply for my daughter to work towards a higher paying future job. It is also to open her eyes to being gender neutral when finding something she is passionate about. I see my role as her mother as a filter to remove the subconscious gender bias that she is exposed to living in today’s society. The world is her oyster and no preconceived ideas must hold her back. Gender bias is of no use to our societies and indeed much effort is being made in the workplace for its eradication or at least its reduction.
My daughter is one of the fortunate ones. She has parents who support her education and she lives in a society where schooling is compulsory and higher education is encouraged. There is no one holding her back from realising her full potential.
Malala Yousafzai’s story
We are all familiar with Malala Yousafzai’s story of activism, which began with the support from her parents for her education- her father being a school teacher for a girls’ school in an area of Pakistan controlled by the Taliban. The very Taliban who hunted out the 15 year old by name and shot her at point blank range. Extraordinarily, this caused Malala and her father to continue and even amplify their efforts to ensure schooling for all girls. Malala went on to become a joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 and graduated in Philosophy, Politics and Economy from Oxford University on the day of my writing this article, Friday 19th June 2020.
According to the Malala Fund, there are more than 130 million girls out of school around the world, due to poverty, gender bias or war. The fund highlights the numerous ways a girl’s life is improved when she is provided with the opportunity to improve herself through education. Lifting her out of poverty, raising health awareness, delaying young girls being forced in marriage, delaying early pregnancies….
Benefits of female education are not limited to the female child. Nations, communities and families benefit from the inclusion of women into the workplace. However, the girls’ lives and futures drastically improve when they are educated.
Role models and success
Christine Lagarde, the first female Managing Director (currently, President of the European Central Bank) and Jonathan D. Ostry, Deputy Director of the International Monetary Fund tackled the importance of women in the workforce in their 2018 article. They stated ‘Women and men bring different skills and perspectives to the workplace, including different attitudes to risk and collaboration.’
Lagarde and Ostry clearly state the benefits of having a diverse and inclusive corporation are experienced throughout the company, finding ‘the financial performance of firms improves with more gender-equal corporate boards’.
Sarita Nayyar, the US based COO of the World Economic Forum in her March 2020 article asserts high profile women serve as role models to younger women and encourage their greater career success. They also serve in the crucial role of addressing gender bias at large, by proving their capabilities.
‘Increased gender parity at the top could also serve to create a role-model effect to encourage more girls and women to pursue leadership positions and counteract unconscious societal biases about women in leadership roles‘, says Nayyar.
There is so much evidence to prove that women need to be encouraged and supported in their move from the home to the office. Or from lower paid, traditionally female roles, into those STEM positions. Gender bias is an outdated concept and has no place in the world of today.
Many countries provide affordable child care, shared maternity and paternity leave and support women once they are in the work place. Schools are focusing on teaching STEAM based curricula and analysis- based learning to ensure the success of the next generation in a rapidly changing world.
Have you read? The importance of being educated Choosing to challenge
The cost of ignoring the benefits
Developing countries also need to follow suit and supply women with choices and flexibility. The trailing countries in the Lagarde and Ostry research were found capable of increasing GDP by an average of 35 percent! This was possible by increasing the work force, but also the significant increased capability due to gender diversity.
Our social responsibility
All societies have much to gain by investing in the education of their future generations, girls and boys alike. Allow all capable members of society to contribute based on their own merit. We will all reap the rewards, man and woman alike.