A wide range of 'women in STEM' programmes have failed to overcome men’s domination of science and technology fields.

New studies show that booming female STEM enrolments at school and undergraduate level dwindle to a trickle at postgraduate level and in the workplace. 

The report includes feedback and recommendations from 75 professionals and students working in or interested in the sector, who have participated in a series of think tanks over the past 12 months.

The South Australian Academy for Gender Equity in STEM (SAAGES) report details a lengthy list of obstacles that women and non-binary people face in the STEM workforce. They include:

  • An unsupportive or hostile work culture

  • Entrenched, pervasive attitudes – in the workplace, community and within families – that associate STEM careers with men and not women

  • Unconscious bias perpetuating gender stereotypes in many workplaces, including the misplaced belief that women (especially mothers) have different skill sets to men

  • Inequitable language in the workplace and media, reinforcing gendered stereotypes, including emphasising ‘masculine’ technical skills over ‘feminine’ soft skills

  • Inflexible work practices

  • Lack of female role models in senior leadership positions

Lead report author Dr Deborah Devis says the feedback demonstrates that Australia has a long way to go to achieve gender equity in the STEM workforce.

“These obstacles raised by women working in the sector should be a red flag as they continue to exacerbate critical STEM industry workforce shortages across the country,” Dr Devis says.

“There are hundreds of ‘women in STEM’ programs across Australia but the impact of these programs is unclear.

“We have seen a significant increase in girls studying STEM subjects in schools and undergraduate degrees, but only a small increase in postgraduate programs and young women pursuing STEM careers. The number of women holding senior management roles in STEM industries is also very low.”

To find solutions to these challenges, the UniSA SAAGES taskforce has produced specific recommendations to support three STEM groups: future employees, current employees, and leaders.

  • Future employees: Mentoring, outreach positions, network building programs (including young entrepreneurs), building relationships between students and companies

  • Current employees: fertility policies, workplace flexibility, equal pay parental leave, evaluation of internal culture

  • Leaders: inclusive leadership training, rewarding equitable leaders, non-financial leadership incentives for women, men’s advocacy for women

In Australia, only 16 per cent of the STEM skilled workforce are women while 90 per cent of women with a STEM qualification work in non-STEM related fields, according to the Australian Academy of Science.

The feedback from women who took part in the think tanks suggests that STEM careers are no longer considered “nerdy” or “unpopular”, but they remain difficult environments for women to thrive in.

An unsupportive - even hostile - work environment was named as the main reason women left jobs in STEM.

Inflexible work hours and a failure among many employers to acknowledge that the burden of unpaid care work for children and older parents still falls disproportionately on women is another major obstacle.

Increasing work flexibility would go a long way towards encouraging women to pursue and continue working in STEM careers, the report says, although companies should avoid creating a gender divide where only women are expected to take advantage of flexible work arrangements.

The full report is accessible in PDF form, here.