Women In STEM: 5 Challenges To Overcome & Achieve Success

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. Women in STEM refers to women in these fields. This phrase comes up to represent women in traditionally male-dominated roles.

Women have made progress because of increased opportunities and companies being more mindful of improving their diversity by having women at the table. There are also financial support programs to encourage young women to pursue STEM careers.

There are resources available for women in STEM to help them pursue their fields of interest and succeed. For instance, special scholarship programs exist to encourage young women to pursue STEM careers.

What Are Some Of These Challenges?

Feeling intimidated & lack of confidence or imposter syndrome; lack of transparency with our colleagues & lower salary; fighting pre-conceived assumptions about our lifestyles & goals; lack of guidance & mentorship.

Addressing The Challenges For Women in STEM 1 – Confidence & Intimidation

Feeling like you don’t belong where you are or don’t deserve it can be a huge hurdle to overcome for a woman in the workplace. That is especially true for women in STEM, a typically male-dominated field.

2 – Lack Of Transparency

This is a big topic nowadays, especially when considering gender equality. It affects everyone, but women are especially susceptible to the adverse effects of lack of transparency.

3 – Fighting Societal Assumptions Over Gender Roles

There are so many stories out there about companies and bosses making assumptions about how committed a woman is to her job. I’ve also heard stories about a lack of interest in hiring someone who’s young and newly married as they may have to “deal with maternity leave.”

4 – Finding Mentorship

Even if the mentors are there, women in STEM often don’t feel they have access to them. The reasons for this vary depending on the job, industry, and the people involved.

5 – Lack Of A Community Or Support Network

Women in STEM have to fight to be heard and find like-minded folks (or other women) with whom they can connect and rely upon for support. Women tend to be hard on each other because the competition is so stiff that they feel the need to protect their progress & interests.

The Importance Of Women in STEM The more women enter the fields, the more likely we are to have subsequent generations following in these footsteps. In addition, having different voices at the table making decisions, giving insight and perspective all help to create better products that help more people. This holds for any of the STEM fields.

Women in STEM are a unique group of female professionals. They must overcome many hurdles to get through school and training and move up the ranks at work. Addressing the challenges mentioned here can make it easier for women to join STEM fields and benefit us as a society.

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