UK: MP pushes for greater numbers of women in STEM careers

Submitted by Mastodon on Tue, 2015-10-20 20:37

Article here. Excerpt:

'In response, Ms Morgan said: "It is good to see that maths A-level is now the most popular A-level. We've got more girls studying STEM subjects both at GCSEs and A-levels.

"But the issue is that women are concentrated in less well paid occupations. Women are 92 per cent of secretaries, 94 per cent of child care assistants but only 7 per cent of engineers and 20 per cent of architects. Again that has to change.'

Bath MP Ben Howlett is pushing for greater numbers of women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The MP has pressed the Secretary of State for Women and Equalities to do more to improve these numbers.

Addressing Nicky Morgan in the House of Commons Chamber, Mr Howlett said: "A recent report by CASE found that when parents were asked what type of job they want their child to pursue when they finish education, there was a clear gender bias with parents wanting for their son a career in engineering and for their daughter a career in nursing.

"Does the Minister agree that it is crucial we break down these barriers?
...
"There should be no gendered careers, women make excellent engineers and similarly men make excellent nurses.

"We should be striving for complete gender equality in this country, and by turning our focus to the next generation, we have the chance to make this a reality."'

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The Russians tried this kind of social engineering in the Soviet era and it failed miserably. The gov't told kids what they would study and what kind of careers/jobs they would have, and pursued a plan to "balance out" the sexes in various occupations incl. medicine, engineering, etc. The consequences were pretty bad. Employee absenteeism and goldbricking became commonplace in many areas simply b/c ppl didn't want to do the kind of work fiated to them by Big Brother.

No amt. of telling a girl she wants to be an engineer or a boy he wants to be a nurse will change the truth for them. What you'll end up with is a lot of disaffected young people and nothing that you set out for.

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Submitted by Matt on Wed, 2015-10-21 18:33

This is a topic I contemplate a lot, and I have come to this conclusion:

When women are saddled with as much expectation of being a breadwinner as men, we will start to see many more women in STEM, and many more men in the humanities. It's just that for the time being, society does not afford men the opportunity to take degrees which may not lead to careers which pay enough to support a family (like it does women - women get a choice to some extent whether they want to be career or family centered, and men do not). That is pretty much why men are so overrepresented in occupations which pay well. Pretty much because they have to be, because no one else will pick up the slack if they don't.

But, women's lack of interest in being main breadwinners is also somehow men's fault, of course. Because if a group of people choose not to partake in something lucrative due to lack of interest, it is everyone else's fault for not making them interested enough. #FemLogic

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Submitted by xtrnl on Tue, 2015-10-27 03:28

IMO, it is not as much of a choice as many people think. Men will never be saddled with the responsibility of birthing children and one year of breast feeding. And it is these responsibilities that influences the choices men and women make.

Men and women are not interchangeable, so they can not and should not have the same expectations. Women choose safe careers for a number of reason, with the top reason usually being they know that if they want to reproduce (and most biological creatures do) they will need a career that does not risk their health, women also know that timing of pregnancies can't always be planned and they should expect at least a year off for each pregnancy and breast feeding.

You have biological differences that give specific risks and motivations to specific genders. When risks and motivations are different, so is the behavior.

Feminists and their supporters can try and push women into STEM fields and CEO positions all they want. It's not going to work, because many women do not want those positions for the reasons I just explained.

BTW - they are coming out with new reports which indicate a woman's lifestyle habits in early pregnancy (like immediately after conception) are more important than previously thought. This means any sexual active woman of child bearing age needs to cut all risky behavior to ensure optimal health of any child she might conceive.

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Submitted by Kris on Tue, 2015-10-27 06:24