Paper on Inclusion of Women in STEAM and STEAM Disciplines
STEAM is an educational discipline or educational approach employed in modern-day learning and research that inculcates the disciplines or subjects of Science, Technology, Arts, and Mathematics in education, research, and critical thinking. STEAM has been mooted as the driving force behind developing and cultivating the next batch of leaders, innovators, thinkers, and scholars of this century. Its propagation and emphasizing have gained traction in the world over and most countries. STEAM has the consequential or results of developing the creative process in learners, persisting in problem-solving of societal and community problems, promoting experimental learning, enabling collaboration, and improving the taking of thoughtful ana calculated risks.
Indeed, in America and the world over as a whole, women are significantly and massively underrepresented in STEAM disciplines, much like they are underrepresented in positions of power and influence. There must be concerted and joint efforts to ensure that the gap margin is narrowed and that more women are involved in STEAM. They should be on par with their male counterparts who are heavily vested in STEAM disciplines. Indeed, a shocking statistic came out that women hold less than 30% of jobs that require STEAM knowledge and training (Vogelstein, 2018).
To involve more women in STEAM-related fields and STEAM disciplines, there is a need to put steps or practices in place that encourage their participation in these fields and STEAM-related disciplines. A social strategy is needed that seeks to advance this objective and one that can push the achievement of this plan of involving more women in STEAM and its related fields and disciplines. This social strategy consists of considerations, steps, and the organization that is required for this goal.
The first of these would be to eliminate the stereotypical belief that STEAM and its relative disciplines and fields are dominantly a male subject ( Schaffhauser, 2017). This was the main reason for the addition of the A in the initial STEM abbreviation, to include arts, mainly in an attempt to appeal to a broader range of people and a larger audience, more so women. This is the first step that would promote and encourage the involvement of more women in STEAM.
An additional step that could be taken in promoting STEAM among women is developing and ensuring there is a serious investment in educator and education development that targets girls. There should be channeling of enough funds or otherwise investment that promotes women in STEAM. This can be done through contests and channeling of funds to girl schools, organizing STEAM events and competitions for girls where they are allowed to showcase their ideas, innovative plans, and creations. There should also be funds set aside that are easily accessible to enable the development of ideas by girls and women to enhance their involvement in STEAM fields.
Another method that could be instrumental in involving more girls in STEAM is storytelling at earlier and childhood stages. This method, or the books used or stories don’t have t necessarily be about science, but even reading material that promotes and enhances curiosity, endeavor, and perseverance. Other methods or steps that could be taken into consideration in improving the involvement of women in STEAM fields include, teaching and inculcating a growth mindset, teaching the value and importance of failure, posing examples of successful women to act as motivating factors, provision of sufficient opportunities for women to venture into STEAM and succeed and finally, creating an environment or space that promotes science among women and discourages negative stereotypes ( Boston & Cimpian, 2018).
The historical context that informs the above steps and strategy that I have outlined in involving more women in STEAM-related flights is that of the stereotypes associated with women that they are of lower intellectual ability and that STEAM disciplines are dominantly reserved for boys. This is a completely absurd and wrong notion that informed my strategy and steps of involving more women in STEAM, as stated above. Another is the fact that men by far outnumber women in engineering, maths, physics, computer, and technological fields (Wallace & Nino, 2015). There is a need to bridge this vast gap and minimize the difference.
There have been efforts and changes that have been made by specific individuals and organizations to improve women’s involvement in STEAM. These efforts are such as encouraging the number of women into STEAM and STEAM-related educational courses such as computer science, increasing funding for organizations that are involved in STEAM, and educating people on the importance of STEAM. In these efforts, I would change all these efforts such that they focus centrally on women and girls. That these efforts be more concentrated and focused on women as they are in a more dire situation (Stem Women, 2016). This is the change, along with the steps outlined above that I would use to create a new version of the social strategy that would allow for more women to take part in STEAM.
Through joint action, we can work together to ensure that this overall goal of involving more women in STEAM is achieved. Joint efforts would require the efforts of all stakeholders as well as the women involved, so that eventually this aim is realised. These joint efforts would consist of efforts such as abolishing these stereotypes, providing more donor funding that promotes women involvement in STEAM related fields and disciplines and finally, education and sensitization programs that focus on promoting women involvement in STEAM fields and disciplines.
Consequences of more women involvement in STEAM, include, the growth of independent thinking and enhanced critical thinking among women, improved problem solving of society issues and problems among women, provides an inter-disciplinary approach that places women involved in STEM at an advantage and enables women to be involved in the solving of global issues and problems. However, perhaps the main end result or consequence of more women being involved in STEAM is that this would go a long way in empowering them and providing a strong platform for voicing their participation and advocating for inclusion.
References
Boston, J., & Cimpian, A. (2018, July 12). Here’s how to encourage more girls to pursue science and math careers. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/heres-how-to-encourage-more-girls-to-pursue-science-and-math-careers-98229
Schaffhauser D. (2017, October 2). 7 ways to get more girls and women into STEM (and encourage them to stay) — THE journal. Retrieved from https://thejournal.com/articles/2017/10/02/7-ways-to-get-more-girls-and-women-into-stem.aspx
STEM Women. (2016, September 26). Women in STEM | Percentages of women in STEM statistics. Retrieved from https://www.stemwomen.co.uk/blog/2019/09/women-in-stem-percentages-of-women-in-stem-statistics
Vogelstein R. (2018). Women and girls in STEAM education. Retrieved from https://www.cfr.org/blog/women-and-girls-steam-education
Wallace, C., & Nino, N. M. (2015, May 5). How to get more girls involved in STEM. Retrieved from https://time.com/3835310/girls-stem-school/