Of all the fields in STEM – or science, technology, engineering and mathematics – the engineering workforce has the lowest proportion of women, at 14%.
Source: Only about 1 in 5 engineering degrees go to women
I have personally mentored numerous young women in FIRST Robotics who went on to earn degrees in engineering and computer science.
In 1986, about 40% of all computer science degrees were awarded to women, In the ’90s that ratio began dropping, eventually falling below 20% in the 2000s.
While there are few women in some STEM fields (primarily certain fields of engineering and computer science), more women graduate from college than men, and a slight majority of all STEM degrees (as defined by NSF) go to women.
There is also the reverse problem which goes no media attention: About 89% of US nurses are female. About 90% of K-6 public school teachers are female and about 75% of K-12 public school teachers are female. These two fields are huge, employing many millions of workers.
But there is zero media coverage of this and there are no programs anywhere to encourage men to go into nursing or education.
