What is equity?
Equity is defined as fairness and impartiality towards all concerned, based on the principles of evenhanded dealing. This means that everyone is given a fair shot to access the same opportunities. I believe that a picture will help explain this a little farther.
Women and Minorities in STEM:
Unfortunately, as we all know women and minorities face extreme levels of discrimination in the science and technology fields. Even half of the women in all of the stem environments have experienced some kind of discrimination, ranging from unfair pay to being denied important assignments.
Percentages of female and minority participation in STEM at the Collegiate level:
FEMALE PARTICIPATION IN STEM STUDIES AT THE COLLEGIATE LEVEL
- Computer Science: 18.2%
- Engineering: 19.2%
- Physics: 19.1%
MINORITY PARTICIPATION IN STEM STUDIES AT THE COLLEGIATE LEVEL
- Engineering: 3.1%
- Physical Sciences: 6.5%
- Mathematics: 5.4%
- Computer Science: 4.8%
Other Statistics related to STEM:
- 73% of scientists and engineers are white.
- African-Americans, American Indians, and Hispanics between 18 and 24 account for 34% of the total U.S. population but earn only 12% of all undergraduate degrees in engineering.
- Minority students report desiring to go into a STEM major at the same rate as their white and Asian peers. These students end up getting discouraged because many minority students aren’t afforded the same educational opportunities.
- Women filled 47 percent of all U.S. jobs in 2015 but held only 24 percent of STEM jobs.
- Women with STEM degrees are less likely than their male counterparts to work in a STEM occupation; they are more likely to work in education or healthcare.
Who participates in STEM video:
Advocate for women in STEM:
never stop advocating for women in stem bc yesterday some guy tried to explain a drill bit to me
— maya (@spacenthuiast) November 13, 2018
Ways to encourage more minorities, women, and individuals with disabilities to pursue STEM careers through school systems:
- After school programs. This will allow students to experience an interesting and fun STEM learning opportunities, when the pressure to preform is taken away.
- Engage students in STEM based learning in your classroom. This will hopefully spark some interest with females of minorities that would like to be a part of a STEM field.
- As teachers we need to call on males and females equally. Doing this in the classroom will allow for all students to see that their ideas are important and that they matter.
- Promote non-traditional career paths for students. Encourage students in anything that they want to pursue. If a male student wants to pursue a career in theater or dance encourage them to do so. If a female student decides she wants to pursue a career in STEM encourage her as well.
- When discussing STEM in the make sure that you are incorporating STEM scientist that come different backgrounds.
https://twitter.com/MissChasteen/status/1062385278667710467
Resources:
https://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2012/06/10-startling-stats-about-minorities-stem/
https://www.commerce.gov/news/fact-sheets/2017/11/women-stem-2017-update
https://www.onlinecolleges.net/for-students/women-and-minorities-stem/
Hello Bailey,
I agree with you that we need to encourage children to pursue what they are interested in. We need to spark their interests, even if it is not STEM. I tend to think that every student I come into contact with loves science. I need to realize that that is not always true. I do know that science fascinates people, though. I like your ideas that you list of calling on boy and girls equally and introducing minority scientists. I had this idea as well in my blog. The only thing I would say about that is we cannot go completely the opposite way, meaning that we cannot totally ignore white, male scientists. That is also prejudice. We should include equal numbers of minorities and majorities. This is only fair. I like your Tweet. You are correct. It is our job to introduce students to STEM fields and get them interested in them as well. Many of the activities that we did on Awesome Dr. Ann’s class did this. We have to make sure, though, that we incorporate the 4 components of STEM. I had this issue earlier on. I have a STEM degree, but do not know exactly what a STEM activity is. It includes science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, not just science for example. I liked your statistics and your video. They were both very interesting. Great Post!
Delaina 🙂
Delania, I would like to start by saying thanks for the positive feedback! On the other hand I do not agree with the fact that you said my blog was prejudice. I never once stated that we need to ignore the white male scientist. I said that we need to encourage all students to join a STEM field. I also said that all students deserve equal opportunities. Once again thanks for the positive feedback!