

The demand for STEM talent increased by 66% since 1990. In 2018, the national STEM workforce comprised 11.2 million employees, equating to a 9% increase in STEM jobs between 20. The Growth of STEM Industries in the USĪs you can see, the gender gap in STEM is particularly high in the fastest-growing, highest-paid and some argue, the most influential, jobs of the future.

In 1990, 32% of workers in computer occupations were women today, women make up 25%, unchanged since 2016. In engineering, women made up 12% of the workforce in 1990, which has increased by a minuscule 3% over the years. Over the years, these sectors have either remained stagnant or have seen decreases in representation. Women currently make up just 15% of engineering professionals and 25% of computing workers. However, in some of the most sought-after skill sets and fastest-growing industries in the United States, the representation of women is worrying low. Similarly, in 2019, women made up around half of those in math (47%) and life and physical science (45%) occupations, which closely matches the share of women in the overall workforce. For example, since 1970, women have made significant gains in certain areas within STEM, particularly social sciences, increasing from 19% in 1970 to 64% in 2019. The representation of women in STEM does vary when you look at particular industries within the STEM workforce. Percentage of women in the STEM workforceįor the past 30 years, women have been consistently represented at roughly 25% of the STEM workforce in the USA. This share has increased dramatically over the years, with women only making up 8% of STEM workers in 1970, but there are still clearly imbalances. Women in the STEM WorkforceĬurrently, women make up just 28% of the STEM workforce in the USA. In fact, the share of women completing computer and information science courses has fallen by 10% since 1990, even though this is one of the sectors seeing the fastest growth in the jobs market. In advanced degrees within these fields, just 3 in 10 were earned by women.ĭespite the STEM industry rapidly growing and a greater number of new and innovative jobs being created, the share of STEM degrees earned by women has remained constant at 36% for the past 20 years. For the 2017-2018 academic year, women secured 22% of all bachelor’s degrees in engineering, and just 19% of degrees in computer science. However, for other areas of STEM, they are in the minority. In biological and life sciences, women earned around 62% of degrees in 2018. In health-related and life science fields, women earn a large share of degrees. Percentage of women who earned STEM degrees in 2018 However, certain areas of STEM are much more underrepresented than others. In 2018, women earned 36% of STEM degrees. When we come to graduation, women are outnumbered in the majority of science, maths, and engineering fields. Research has found that in first-year college students, women are much less likely than men to say that they intend to major in STEM. However, the split then begins to become unbalanced as more men pursue STEM majors than women. In elementary, middle, and high school, the number of girls and boys who take maths or science courses is roughly equal, and this split remains constant when girls and boys leave high school and prepare to pursue STEM-related majors in college. Women in STEM USA Statistics Women and Girls in STEM Education Using data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and the AAUW, we wanted to take a closer look at some women in STEM USA statistics. This underrepresentation is also seen in education, with fewer women and girls taking STEM-related courses at school and college. In recent decades, the STEM workforce has grown rapidly, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics projecting continued uptake and even a boost in employment following the coronavirus pandemic.ĭespite making up almost half of the workforce in the US, women are still vastly underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and math-related (STEM) workforce. STEM-related occupations are some of the fastest-growing industries in the US and across the world.
