Why Are there so Few Women in STEM Fields?
Why Are there so Few Women in STEM Fields?
An International Overview about the ’Leaky Pipeline’ Metaphor
Women’s proportion in tertiary education is still lower than that of men in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Moreover, women are underrepresented in top positions in STEM fields in academia. This phenomenon can be described by the ’leaky pipeline’ metaphor (Berryman 1983): women ‘leak out’ from the pipeline during their career to a greater extent than their male counterparts. Several institutional and individual constraints have been identified as reasons behind this phenomenon. In the first part of this paper we will introduce the leaky pipeline metaphor briefly, then we will show the main explanations for the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields in the educational system. Special attention will be given to the discourses of the masculin worldview of science, to the academic performance of women, to women’s attitudes toward science, and to the presence and the effects of the hidden curriculum in the educational system. In the conclusion, we will discuss some good practices and their critiques as well.