Bridging the Education - Employment gap for women in STEM

Article by Madhura DasGupta Sinha

Founder and CEO, Aspire For Her
Jury, IET India Young Women Engineer Award

Background

Maya grew up near Gulbarga – a bright student who topped her class. She breezed through Computer Science in her local engineering college but once it was time for placements, she could only work for a year before her family insisted on her getting married. Maya is not alone. Many women in India find themselves in this situation.

The state of women’s economic participation in India has always been a cause of distress. Whether it’s India’s abysmal place in the Global Gender Gap Index or the declining percentage of women in the workforce over the last 15+ years - the story is rather depressing. The irony of this is that more and more Indian women are getting educated; they are topping examinations and shining in the classrooms but this is not translating into economic prosperity for our country.

This is actually a trillion-dollar opportunity for India, as per the Power of Parity Report by McKinsey Global Institute.

Financial independence is the key to all other forms of independence and we understand that women in our country need a change in mindset, more than anything else to prepare themselves for a meaningful career.

Women in STEM

50% of the world's population are women. However, only 24 women have won the Nobel Prize in STEM. Only one woman has won the Fields Medal in Mathematics.

With 43% female graduates at the tertiary level, women enrolled in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields in India is higher than US, UK and Germany. However, few are entering the workforce and even fewer are becoming leaders.

This is a topic of deep interest to us at Aspire For Her – a unique start-up that is trying to change the diversity equation of our country. We are adding a million women to the workforce by 2025 by motivating women to enter and stay in the workforce by using the power of communities and networks.

There are basically 3 questions we asked our community

• Why do women do not study STEM subjects?
• Even if they study STEM, women do not pursue STEM careers. Why?
• How do you feel more women can be encouraged to pursue STEM careers?

Why women do not study STEM subjects?

The answers primarily touched upon lack of social/ family encouragement as well as lack of clear understanding of career opportunities relative to other options. Also, the stark underrepresentation of women in professional fields results in a serious dearth of role models.

Why women do not pursue STEM careers?

Women are seen to be the primary caregivers for the family and the difficulty to manage a STEM career along with family responsibilities is seen to be the primary deterrent for women in STEM careers.

The dominant response was that women do not pursue STEM due to difficulty to balance work and family. STEM careers are often associated with long hours and hectic travel schedules including visiting clients in other locations. Better career prospects in non-STEM fields and gender disparity in pay, performance and promotion also came up in our conversations.

There are also a small percentage of women high achievers, who moved out of STEM careers to pursue management and leadership tracks.

What can be done to get more women in STEM?

Let us get back to Maya. Maya was a home-maker when she lost her husband to COVID. Emotionally devastated, and financially insecure, she joined Aspire For Her.

Maya joined the large community of women wanting to return to the workforce, and she was mentored by a senior woman leader in IBM. As she regained her confidence to face the world, she applied and got selected for a 14-week cohort-based course offered by Amazon Web Services through Aspire For Her. Maya completed her cloud certification with flying colours and joined one of the best-known technology companies in the world. Maya is financially independent and is taking care of her family of two young children, ageing in-laws and parents.

Maya’s story can be deconstructed to look for solutions.

To get more women in STEM, we need to change mindsets and there are 5 pillars we can rely on

1. Mentors and Role Models – 4 out of 5 girls in our country have no professionally successful, relatable women in their immediate networks. Initiatives like the Young Woman Engineer Award by IET India serve to inspire and influence young women to stay in the workforce and achieve their potential. Since the award targets Women engineers below 35 years, it encourages women of this age to not give up on their careers and their potential due to marriage or motherhood.
2. Courses, Cohorts and Learning – Skilling, reskilling and upskilling for STEM jobs is probably the most important pillar to bridge the education–employment gap. With more women skilled in new-age STEM career tracks like coding, AI, ML, Data Science etc, and more roles moving to India, the roles will gravitate towards the talent.
   
   
3. Career Previews – It is important to celebrate women’s careers and open up the doors and windows of young minds to new-age career options.
   
   
4. Community – Women pursuing careers often feel alone and being part of a community connects them to each other. The members of the community elevate each other and find solutions to problems creatively and collectively.
   
   
5. Employment Opportunities – Forward-looking organisations are focused on sustainability and at the heart of Environment Social Governance (ESG) goals are three letters – D,E,I (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). The best organisations in the world are sharpening their DEI strategies to attract, recruit and retain diverse talent. And, a multitude of global jobs are rushing to India.

This is a great time to be a woman in STEM in India.