(Newswire.net — January 18, 2016) — One subject that seems to be an endless source of debate at the moment is gender equality in the workplace. While some indicate a large gap in income between men and women, others suggest this is derived from looking at wage statistics in the wrong way, and that for any given job the offered salary would be the same for a male or female candidate. Regardless of where you stand on this issue, there is one field of professional work that tends to stand out when looking at the differences between the male and female working population, and that is the science, technology, engineering and math sphere – or STEM as it is generally known.
STEM and Gender Equality
For a long time, ‘practical’ STEM jobs (that is, jobs outside of teaching STEM subjects), were seen to be very male dominated. There was a large drive in the 90’s to encourage more women to enter these fields, and, given that technology has become so key to our lives in general, female students began to take a greater interest in choosing this arena for their careers.
Universities now see far more female students enrolling on STEM courses of study, and as well as less traditionally male areas of STEM like medicine and life sciences, there are now more women than ever attempting careers in formerly male dominated fields like computer science, engineering and physical sciences. There are even some stats that now suggest women find it easier than men to get accepted for these courses or find work in these fields once qualified.
With that in mind, there is another reason why STEM subjects are likely to become an even bigger draw for female students:
STEM and Non-STEM Wage Gap for Women
While it is becoming not only easier, but highly encouraged for young women to study for careers in STEM areas, the jobs this path of study lead to pay very well. In fact, when compared to other women of a similar level of education, women working in STEM earned 33% more than their counterparts in other fields. This means that women who choose STEM are not only perhaps set to benefit from the efforts these industries are making to try and balance out an old gender gap by having a lot of support in studying their STEM subject of choice and finding work, when they do graduate and enter the workforce, they are unlikely to see any pay gap between men and women at all, and are going to earn more than they would in many other fields.
A Wide Range of Opportunities
As STEM sheds its masculine image, it is becoming clear just how many fascinating areas of work a STEM study route can lead to. From working in medical research and preparing a lab report from the latest study on a potentially life-saving drug, to developing robotics, designing software, studying space or the world and creatures around us, women in STEM can look forward to a rewarding and interesting – as well as lucrative – career.