WRITTEN BY: JENNA ANDERSON

Canadian women are significantly less likely to choose STEM degrees over non-STEM degrees in University. According to Statistics Canada, women account for 39% of university graduates with a STEM degree compared to 66% of university graduates in non-STEM programs. Looking at a breakdown by field, 59% of women in STEM graduated from science and technology programs, 23% from engineering and 30% from mathematics and computer science programs. The same study from Statistics Canada looked into whether math proficiency had an effect on the low rate of women that choose STEM fields. They found that, while boys overall were achieving slightly higher marks in math, girls that achieved ‘high’ scores in math were less likely to choose a STEM university program than boys who had achieved ‘low’ scores in math. Over all, social sciences programs were preferred by girls regardless of their math proficiency. Boys on the other hand were always more likely to choose a STEM program, no matter their math scores. More than 30% of boys who had received less than 80% in math courses applied for STEM programs compared to only 10% of girls who had received less than 80%. Therefore, aptitude for math seems to be less of a factor for boys when deciding whether or not to pursue STEM in university.

Aptitude seems to play less of a role for boys due to the stereotype that boys are naturally better at math than girls. Previous research has found math to be stereotypically considered masculine. Boys are seen as more competent and more likely to enjoy math than girls. These stereotypes are false, but can still affect how teachers rate boys' versus girls' success in math classes.  Higher teacher expectations are strongly associated with higher scores on standardized mathematics tests. Researchers from New Zealand looked into whether the gender of the teacher played a role in these varying expectations of boys and girls. While they found that the teacher's gender made no difference to their expectations of girls versus boys, they did find that overall male teachers had lower expectations of mathematics achievement for students of both genders. Looking back at the Statistics Canada research, if men account for the majority of mathematics graduates then they likely account for the majority of mathematics teachers. The researchers suggest that stereotype threat may be at play, and the presence of a male teacher reminds the girls of the masculine stereotype that surrounds mathematics.

The prevelance of men within STEM teaching positions is not only seen in highschools, but also in post-secondary institutions as well. A 2015 study by the 10 and 3 found that within the top 20 largest Canadian research universities women made up less that 25% of STEM professors. Women undergraduate students are also more likely than men to drop courses due to teaching style. CERP collected data from Intro Computer Science students who dropped the course and found that 25% more women than men reported that they dropped the course due to the professor’s teaching style and 42% more women reported that they dropped the course because it was too challenging.

All of this suggests that there seems to be a gap between the teaching style of male teachers, who make up the majority of STEM educators, and the girls and women they are teaching. Data from the study, “Understanding the STEM Pipeline” found that girls who had higher proportions of women math and science teachers in middle and high school were more likely to pursue STEM degrees in university. These studies highlight the impotance of providing STEM role models who are women, whether it is within or outside the classroom. Furthermore, more research should be done on the differences in teaching styles between men and women. Maybe, the lower expectations male teachers have of their students have a larger negative effect than realized. 

These studies stress how important mentorship is in encouraging girls and women to pursue STEM programs in University. There are many mentorship programs that help provide diverse role models for young girls and women. If you are a teacher or a parent, check out Science World’s Scientists in Schools, a mentorship program that brings scientists, engineers, technologists and technicians into classrooms and SCWIST’s ms infinity, a program that holds hands-on STEM workshops for girls.