cant challenge to women’s full participation in these fields.

WOMEN IN STEM:
HISTORICAL DATA, UNITED STATES

Since the 1972 passage of Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational activities receiving federal funds in the U.S., we have witnessed considerable progress. In 1972, women in the U.S.

The strength of the scientific enterprise depends on its ability to be innovative—to ask new questions, investigate and test new ideas, generate greater understanding of the natural world, increase efficiency, enhance human life, and develop solutions for pressing global problems. In order to do so, according to Raynard Kington, former
Deputy Director of the National Institutes of Health, “the nation cannot afford to lose a
single mind with potential to expand science and health research” [ 1].

earned approximately 26 percent of bachelor’s degrees, 20 percent of master’s degrees, and only 8 percent of doctoral degrees in STEM fields. In 2012, women earned about 53 percent of bachelor’s degrees, 54 percent of master’s degrees, and in 2009—the most current available data— 47 percent of doctorate degrees in the sciences and engineering (see Figure 1).

This progress, however, has not STEM fields and discusses a signifi-

A look at how implicit biases influence the advancement of
women in science and engineering.
By Eve Fine, Amy Wendt, and Molly Carnes
DOI: 10.1145/2605000
Gendered
Expectations:
Are we unintentionally
undermining our
efforts to diversify
STEM fields?