Policy Backgrounders

For the US to remain a leader in new technologies and safeguard national security, the Nation cannot afford to underutilize the talent of half its workforce and must address its STEM workforce shortage. Despite women attending college at higher rates than men, women remain underrepresented in STEM fields.

Key Insights

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) expects continued growth in employment in STEM occupations, increasing 10.4% over the next ten years, significantly outpacing non-STEM occupations at 3.6%.
In 2021, 24% of the overall US workforce held a STEM occupation, compared to only 18% of women – women’s representation was three-fifths the rate of male workers. However, between 2011 and 2021, the percentage of women working in STEM increased more than men.
Research shows that social and environmental factors may contribute to women’s underrepresentation in STEM fields. “Stereotype threat” asserts that negative stereotypes about girls’ and women’s abilities in math and science affect performance and aspirations in the subjects. Experts recommend battling stereotype threat by encouraging a growth mindset about intelligence, raising awareness of biases, and exposing women and girls to successful role models in STEM.

Growing Demand for STEM Workers

BLS expects continued growth in employment in STEM occupations, increasing 10.4% over the next ten years, significantly outpacing non-STEM occupations at 3.6%. However, despite an influx of foreign-born workers, the Nation currently does not have the domestic talent needed to meet this rapidly growing demand. According to the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) biennial report, The State of U.S. Science and Engineering 2024, the US STEM workforce in 2021 consisted of 36.8 million people across a broad range of occupations across various skill levels. Foreign-born individuals comprised 19% of all US STEM workers, and 43% of doctoral-level scientists and engineers.

In order for the US to ensure leadership in new technologies as demand continues to grow for skills in data science, machine learning, and other advanced technologies, it must address its STEM workforce shortage. In a brief accompanying NSF’s report, the National Science Board (NSF’s governing board) noted that “[T]he United States is facing an accelerating science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) talent crisis that increasingly puts our economic and national security at risk” and that the nation’s current “out-sized dependence on international talent from China and India is a vulnerability.”

The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (the Act) was passed to incentivize the domestic production of semiconductors and support applied scientific research in the US. The Act also authorized, but did not appropriate, additional funding to the NSF to “support research and development activities related to STEM education and workforce matters.” However, several reports have determined that appropriations have fallen well below levels authorized by the Act, especially at NSF.

Women Underrepresented in STEM Fields

Women have long been underrepresented in the STEM workforce. Despite women attending college at higher rates than men, women remain significantly underrepresented among those receiving STEM bachelor’s degrees required for many of the highest-paying occupations. CED’s April 2024 Policy Backgrounder: The Continuing Gender Wage Gap noted that a major contributor to the persistence of the gender wage gap was women’s underrepresentation in the highest-earning careers.

Among those receiving a bachelor’s degree in mathematics or statistics in 2020, 42% were women, unchanged from 1980. For degrees in physics, 25% of recipients were women, up from 13% in 1980. Women receiving engineering degrees stand at 23% versus 9% in 1980. However, women have gained significant ground in completion of advanced degrees for STEM-related occupations, particularly in healthcare; 51% of Doctor of Dental Surgery or Doctor of Dental Medicine (D.D.S. or D.M.D.) recipients are women, versus 13% in 1980 and 50% of Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) recipients are women, versus 23% in 1980. The NSF’s latest Science & Engineering Indicator report, The STEM Labor Force: Scientists, Engineers, and Skilled Technical Workers, revealed that in 2021, 24% of the overall US workforce held a STEM occupation compared to only 18% of women who did – women’s representation was three-fifths the rate of male workers.

Despite the persistent underrepresentation of women in STEM occupations, women are beginning to gain momentum in closing the gap. Between 2011 and 2021, the percentage of women working in STEM increased more than men – from 15% to 18% (an increase of 3,060,200 women), compared with the increase in the percentage of men working in STEM from 28% to 30% (an increase of 4,005,200 men).

Environmental Factors, Unconscious Bias, and Underrepresentation

Does the stereotype that boys are better in math and science still affect girls today? A report by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) examining the STEM gender gap, Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, draws on a large body of research to argue that social and environmental factors contribute to women’s underrepresentation in STEM fields.

“Stereotype threat” is a theory that asserts that negative stereotypes about girls’ and women’s abilities in math and science affect performance and aspirations in the subjects. A 1999 study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology was one of the first experiments to test stereotype threat regarding gender. The researchers recruited 30 female and 24 male first-year University of Michigan psychology students with strong math backgrounds and similar math abilities as measured by grades and test scores and divided them into two groups. One group was told that men performed better than women on the test (the threat condition), and the other group was told that there were no gender differences in test performance (the nonthreat condition). Researchers found that women performed significantly worse than men in the threat situation. Meanwhile, the gender difference in performance nearly disappeared in the nonthreat condition. Hundreds of studies supporting this finding have been published since.

Joshua Aronson, an associate professor of Applied Psychology at New York University whose research findings are highlighted in the AAUW report, suggests that one reason girls lose confidence as they advance in school stems from “the stereotyping that students are exposed to in school, the media, and even at home that portrays boys as more innately gifted and math as a gift rather than a developed skill,” leading to what he calls “disidentification.” Disidentification is a defense mechanism to avoid being judged by a stereotype, and in such cases, girls and women may avoid the stereotype that they are not good at math and science by avoiding the subjects all together.

Aronson and other researchers recommend battling stereotype threat by encouraging a growth mindset about intelligence. Presenting a more malleable view of math and science ability protects against vulnerability to preconceived beliefs that girls and women are inherently disadvantaged in these subjects. Raising awareness of biases must also be a priority, which starts with acknowledging and explicitly teaching students about stereotype threats. Teachers and other faculty should be trained in spreading awareness.

Girls and young women have fewer role models in STEM fields and fewer examples in media and popular culture, reinforcing the stereotype that science- and math-based studies and occupations are masculine. A lack of representation for women – as well as others from underrepresented groups – in these spaces may make individuals hesitant to enter these fields.

Closing the Gap

The nation’s urgent demand for highly skilled professionals in fields such as cybersecurity, machine learning, and military technologies means that women – who make up nearly half of the labor force – cannot go underutilized in these crucial areas. Intervention is needed at a young age to spark interest and confidence in science and math for all students, but especially for girls and youth of color. Afterschool programs have shown to help youth develop a sense of belonging in STEM subjects through mentorship and career exposure, quelling feelings around not belonging in those spaces.

At the postsecondary level, universities can take actions to create a supportive environment for young women to pursue STEM majors through actively recruiting and retaining female STEM faculty, educating professors about stereotype threat and the benefits of a growth mindset, and emphasizing career applications in early STEM courses. Public awareness campaigns can also spread awareness of high-demand, high-paying jobs in STEM that do not require a bachelor’s degree, and business has an important role to play in working with community colleges to help recruit students and build out programs.