Girls Belong in STEM: Exploring the Gender Gap and Encouraging Girls to Pursue STEM Careers
By: Brianna Gigliotti
Sydney Selmensberger’s interest in engineering first sparked on the day her dad brought home his first iPhone.
“I was probably seven or eight years old, and I just thought that was the coolest thing,” she said. “And that was the first time I was like, well, how do they do that? I wanted to know how it worked.”
Further down the road, Sydney learned more about STEM and potential career opportunities. She attended camps that involved building robots, learning to solder, and coding. In high school, she was able to take classes that expanded her knowledge and interest in engineering.
“I got to take a digital electronics class where I saw a little bit of like — this is actually the kind of math that goes into this, and this is how these circuits are designed, and this is what a schematic looks like,” she explained. “This is how you put your ideas to action, and how you actually build something.”
Sydney was once a young girl curious about how an iPhone worked.
Now, she is in her senior year as an Electrical Engineering major at North Carolina State University.
There are girls all over the world just like Sydney who are intrigued by STEM. Why is it that there is such a significant gender gap in the field? The facts are eye-opening. Women make up only about 35% of STEM graduates; a figure that has been unchanged in over a decade. In 2023, it was reported that only about 16% of engineers and architects were women
From firsthand experience in internships, Sydney can attest to the stark gender gap in engineering. “This summer, I worked in a department that was almost entirely men,” she said. Although she mentioned getting used to it, she described: “You’re sitting in a room and you’re like, everybody here is 20 or more years older than me and male. This feels a little strange.”
There are several reasons for the existence of this gender gap in STEM related fields. Even from a young age, many girls lack confidence in their skills and view boys as “better” at STEM subjects. A study of children in kindergarten through 3rd grade found the following:
Children viewed men as more competent compared to women in STEM professions
Girls perceived STEM jobs as more difficult, while boys saw both STEM and non-STEM jobs as equally difficult
62% of boys said STEM subjects were their favorite, and only 37% of girls reported the same
This lack of confidence often continues throughout a girl’s life and deters them from STEM. One survey found that 57% of Gen Z girls don’t think they’d be good at STEM subjects, while the proportion is only 38% for boys. The reality is: when it comes to STEM, girls frequently view themselves as incapable compared to boys.
Sydney described her thoughts during her most recent internship. “It takes a certain level of confidence to be able to say, no, I deserve to be here,” she said. “I am enough. I have the skills. I have the knowledge. I know I can figure this out, even if they [the men] have more experience.”
To help girls, parents and educators can be intentional about encouraging them to explore STEM subjects. For example, introducing girls to female role models in STEM can inspire them and boost their confidence levels. Engaging in imaginative play, such as pretending to be a female scientist, has also been shown to change perceptions and raise confidence in STEM abilities.
Enrolling girls in camps and workshops that allow them to learn more about STEM is another way to support them. In college, Sydney has been involved in InspirENGR, a group dedicated to supporting girls through workshops and mentorship programs. She talked about leading engaging engineering activities, like creating boats out of different materials and building towers of marshmallows.
“I feel like everybody should have an opportunity at some point, even on a small scale, to get involved in these activities and see that side of engineering. So many people are automatically like I can’t. That’s not where my skills are,” Sydney said. “No, you can build those skills. And you might love it.”
To hear more about Sydney’s journey, join us at Girls Got Moves on October 11th at The Corner at NC State, where she will be speaking about her experiences in a storytelling segment. Girls will have the opportunity to engage in STEM activities through an activation station as well. We hope to see you there!