{"id":9294,"date":"2022-11-08T09:56:43","date_gmt":"2022-11-08T09:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/?p=9294"},"modified":"2022-11-08T12:51:33","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T12:51:33","slug":"does-it-matter-that-women-arent-engaging-in-stem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/does-it-matter-that-women-arent-engaging-in-stem\/","title":{"rendered":"Does it matter that women aren\u2019t engaging in STEM? <\/strong>\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For National STEM Day (8 November) Tina Eager, Senior Lecturer in Computing, discusses attitudes to gender diversity in STEM in a male-dominated sector. <\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s impossible to live on this planet earth in the twenty-first century and be untouched by Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths\/Medicine (STEM), they are the key to almost everything we do. Even using a spade relies on materials science, anatomy, and ergonomics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Governments complain that there isn\u2019t enough diversity in STEM; that there aren\u2019t enough girls and women studying STEM subjects and working in STEM careers. Yet, despite their efforts, and despite any number of initiatives aimed at improving the gender balance, nothing much seems to change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We could argue that a shortage of women in STEM subjects and careers is a good thing: women have choices and aren\u2019t being forced into a STEM career.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question is: does it matter<\/strong> that women aren\u2019t engaging in STEM careers?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the early stages of the development of mechanical artificial hearts, devices were designed for men and were too large to fit 80% of women\u2019s bodies. While smaller versions now exist, it was years before they were approved for use. Women died as a direct result of that original design decision.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

In software, the failure of Apple to include menstrual cycle tracking in its first \u201ccomprehensive\u201d Health App, and then to take five years to add it meant that their app wasn\u2019t at all comprehensive for almost half the people who would download it. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Virtual Reality (VR) as a technology has immense potential, but original headsets were designed and built to fit the average male head (and hairstyle). They were not adjustable to fit smaller heads or more narrowly set eyes. Many more women than men cannot comfortably use the VR headsets and are excluded from the benefits of VR.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early crash test dummies were built as \u201caverage\u201d meaning average male. \u201cFemale\u201d crash test dummies were often just smaller male-shaped dummies. Women are 73% more likely to be killed or seriously injured in a head-on car crash than men. It\u2019s not the standard of driving that\u2019s the problem.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In facial recognition software, many of the data sets used to \u201ctrain\u201d the software included disproportionate numbers of white male faces. These systems discriminate against women and people of colour. The potential for misidentification or the inability to use systems that rely on facial recognition is significant.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Confederation of British Industry claims \u201ctechnology creation must reflect our diverse society\u201d, 3M a leading multinational company points out that  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The future needs diverse thinkers from diverse backgrounds. Equity is as important as any cutting-edge science or technology in guaranteeing a future of innovation. Through greater access, we access greater potential.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is well recognised that companies with a more diverse workforce tend to perform better financially than those with less diverse workforce. Diverse teams in the workplace are likely to be more creative, to reach a wider market, and to attract a more talented and ambitious workforce. <\/sup> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So tell me, does<\/strong> it matter that women aren\u2019t engaging in STEM?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tina Eager is Senior Lecturer in Computing in the School of Engineering, Technology, and Design.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For National STEM Day (8 November) Tina Eager, Senior Lecturer in Computing, discusses attitudes to gender diversity in STEM in a male-dominated sector. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151654,"featured_media":9310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1062,4245],"tags":[4722,102,4730,2181,1265,4726,73,1878,3977,4190,4702],"class_list":["post-9294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-justice","category-stem","tag-careers","tag-computing","tag-diverse-workforce","tag-engineering","tag-gender","tag-gender-balance","tag-health","tag-science","tag-stem","tag-technology","tag-virtual-reality"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"authorName":"Emma Grafton-Williams","featuredImage":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/11\/Engineering-student.jpg","postExcerpt":"For National STEM Day (8 November) Tina Eager, Senior Lecturer in Computing, discusses attitudes to gender diversity in STEM in a male-dominated sector. ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/151654"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9294"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9326,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9294\/revisions\/9326"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}