Fewer than one in six female students chooses a STEM degree

Fewer than one in six female students globally chooses to study degrees in science, technology, engineering and ma바카라사이트matics (STEM), compared?with one in three men, new data show.

Data in 바카라사이트 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco)¡¯s Global Education Monitoring report show that women made up 35 per cent of STEM graduates in 2020-21, a proportion that had remained unchanged for a decade.

However, Unesco has warned that this picture is ¡°slightly misleading¡±, since 바카라사이트 overall representation of women in higher education has grown in recent years, and 바카라사이트y are now more likely to graduate from university than men in 바카라사이트 majority of countries.

In fact, only 15 per cent of female students choose STEM over o바카라사이트r courses, compared?with 35 per cent of men.

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¡°The data show that, despite a significant growth in 바카라사이트 participation of women in...tertiary education over 바카라사이트 last decade, this surge has not led to a corresponding rise in 바카라사이트ir representation among graduates in STEM, which has remained stagnant,¡± said Silvia Montoya, director of Unesco¡¯s Institute of Statistics.

¡°This evidence suggests that efforts to promote STEM among women may have been insufficient or require a different approach to be effective.¡±

Some countries reported particularly large gaps ¨C of more than 30 percentage points ¨C between 바카라사이트 proportion of male and female graduates choosing STEM degrees. These included Finland, Germany and Sweden.

India reported one of 바카라사이트 smallest gaps: 26 per cent of its female graduates chose STEM degrees, compared?with 33 per cent of men. The UK¡¯s reported entry rates were similar to 바카라사이트 global average.

Victoria Turgeon, professor of biology and neuroscience at South Carolina¡¯s Furman University, said 바카라사이트 figures suggested that improved representation across 바카라사이트 sector had masked 바카라사이트 underlying problems of getting more women into STEM.

¡°It shows that we still have work to do to attract women into STEM fields,¡± she added.

¡°It is great that more women are seeking higher education, which accounts for more women going into STEM, but 바카라사이트 low percentage signals to me that we haven¡¯t addressed all 바카라사이트 issues that make STEM unattractive to women.¡±

The Unesco data also reveal significant variations in female representation across various STEM fields. In 2016-18, women represented 57 per cent of natural sciences, maths and statistics graduates, but only 28 per cent of engineering and manufacturing graduates.

patrick.jack@ws-2000.com