Transcriber: Jovani Laz Reviewer: Hani Eldalees
English is the only Latin derived language that doesn't use gender noun
associations. So for a minute, let's try to associate these nouns with the gender.
Makeup, feminine.
trucks, masculine,
hockey, masculine,
swimming, maybe both,
scientist masculine,
construction worker, definitely masculine
and medical professional, maybe both.
So why is it that we associated
the medical professional to be both masculine and feminine,
but the construction worker and the scientist had
a predominantly masculine association?
It's because caring or nurturing professions align with
the prevailing attitudes about women.
This is unconscious gender bias,
and this is what contributes to the gender disparity seen in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics, otherwise known as STEM for short.
Canada is viewed as a progressive nation in popular culture.
So why is it that we have one of
the lowest percentages of women in engineering
and this percentage isn’t changing.
We've known about gender bias for about 30 years,
and although some industries like medicine are seeing increased diversity,
obviously engineering is not.
This graph shows that although
the number of students going into engineering is increasing,
the percentage of those whose female remains the same.
This is a big problem with a lot of underlying causes and
a wide range of repercussions.
And although I don't have time to talk about everything,
I'm going to try to explain why gender disparity in STEM is a problem.
What causes this unconscious bias and ways we can work together
and try to fix this. So why do we care about the demographic going into STEM?
It's because we live in a time where society is facing complex global issues
and an unprecedented rate of technological advancement.
If our country wants to remain on the forefront of innovation
and drive our economy in the process, we need to educate our best leaders,
thinkers and doers.
Right now, Canada has a shortage of engineers,
and if we're going to exclude half the population based on gender,
you're going to miss out a lot of promising talent.
Now let's talk about why more girls aren't going into STEM.
Perhaps the biggest contributor to this is self concept.
Science says that girls need to see
a reflection of themselves in their education
and future careers in order to want to pursue it.
Right now, the engineering industry does not showcase
an equal demographic of men and women,
which makes it extremely difficult
for girls to see themselves in those engineering roles.
Additionally, Science says the girls have lower self-confidence compared to boys.
This means that a girl who is just as capable and receives similar grades,
the boys will still perceive herself to be not smart enough to continue with
hard subjects in high school and then are more likely to drop out
or switch majors once in university.
This also means that girls think that they have to work harder to receive
the same reward as men, and even when they are rewarded,
they feel like they don't deserve it. That's known as imposter syndrome.
So obviously this is a STEM perception issue and not linked to women's ability
or performance.
External influences can also shape how girls perceive engineering.
Unfortunately, teachers, guidance counselors
and parents can have outdated perceptions of what engineering is.
They often view engineering as an inhospitable career choice for girls
and unconsciously promote pass in stem to boys instead.
In addition to this study show that lack of career guidance
or lack of female STEM role models can also directly relate to women not even
considering passing STEM. And this statistic only increases
for less privileged groups.
But these are all factors of why girls don't go into STEM.
There's also a big problem retaining women in industry after graduation.
That's because women are often charged with raising children or caring
for family members, which makes it extremely difficult
for them to rise to leadership roles.
We need to increase the integration of women in STEM by conveying that STEM is
a tool that can be used to open doors for women.
And the best way to convey this message is to support
the outreach programs that are working in schools to promote STEM to girls.
We've got to create excitement around math and science
and let girls know it's OK for them to shine.
They don't have to limit themselves
and this encouragement has got to start quick as early as 14
and it's got to persist throughout high school and things start to get tougher.
By supporting these outreach programs,
we're forming partnerships with like minded individuals
and building alliances by joining together,
we can work on these issues collectively.
We also need to make sure that we're properly educating ourselves on equality,
diversity and inclusion, or EDI for sure.
A study recently revealed that the majority of trusted EDI programs,
although they do actually increase bias literacy and promote collective action,
unfortunately they decrease women’s sense of belonging in STEM
Since it highlighted the stereotypes, if we want to overcome this consequence,
we have to make sure those training programs showcase positive female STEM
role models and that they convey
the message that this gender bias can be overcome.
If we mandate proper EDI training programs in industry and schools,
we’re going to establish a culture for intolerance towards biased behavior.
And it's not just up to women,
to fix these issues enabling and educating men is perhaps one of
the most powerful ways we can overcome this gender bias.
We've got to teach men how to remove
the obstacles that women face rather than teaching women how to jump over them.
If men stop standing by and refuse to participate in projects that offer
biodiversity. It's going to strengthen our culture
for intolerance towards bias behavior. This might be difficult for them.
It’s hard to pass up an opportunity, right?
But my advice for them would be to start getting comfortable with being
uncomfortable because it's the world that women and STEM live in every day.
The professional industry can also do their part to promote diversity
and enable success for women,
having a flexible environment and working hours can help facilitate
the success for women who are primary caregivers.
Having transparency and pay rate averages, and clear H.R. process for discrimination
and harassment will also establish a workplace culture of equality.
Last, having proper EDI training programs will help eliminate unconscious bias
for employees in day to day activities.
It's up to all of us to be educated on unconscious gender bias
and take collective action to overcome the obstacles that girls and women face.
It's not about ensuring that every girl enters STEM.
It's about making sure that the girls who do have a passion for math
and science know what they can and should continue,
and that they have bright futures ahead of themselves in STEM.
And I hope that by listening to this talk today,
you begin to think about things differently
and consciously make choices that will help shape future generations. Thank you.