Engineering and science fuels todays society. So one my ask themselves, "Is gender playing a role in the STEM fields?" STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics and is used to represent all careers that fall into these categories. Women today are beginning to take a stand and are playing huge roles in these fields and creating quite the controversy as to if gender inequality actually exists or if it is a figure of the imagination. It has become apparent that women today are not treated with the same dignity and are not seen as successful as men. One my ask "why?" or "Is this really an issue in today's time?" Well the answer is that many women face gender discrimination in these fields due to the fact that it has been a male dominated field since the beginning of time. Most women would not prefer to dig in dirt or spend all day in a laboratory. But, as society grows as a whole, women are branching out and wanting to peruse careers in things they are passionate about such as the STEM fields. Which all women should be able to do without gender discourse or harassment. Women should not feel as if they cannot have a balance between family and work, not receive proper treatment in the workplace, not be stereotyped, be educated fairly, and receive the proper recognition for their accomplishments. Women all around the world are experiencing these issues and the time for equality in the STEM fields is now. 

Stereotypes are one of the main reasons females feel as if they cannot be a part of a science or engineering career. Men and women are known to express themselves differently in different environments. Sandra Ingram and Anne Parker suggest that "the perception that men are technically competent and the ownership of the engineering profession is theirs while, at the same time, contributing to the marginalization of women and their contributors" is reinforced by the idea that "men's with 'tinkering' and their talking about it [ ... ] work[s] against women whose socialization may not have equipped them for [that] kind of display" (8). The idea that engineering and sciences is a male-dominated social aspect that in the end, with a higher ratio of men than women in these fields, women eventually become "marginalized or excluded altogether" (Ingram 8). One other reason these stereotypes exist is that males and females have a different approach to interaction which leads to different collaborative styles (Ingram 8). The idea is that many women cannot work well in a male dominated society and the idea that due to their gender they cannot succeed, when in reality, women are trying to create a place in these fields but the stereotypes placed against them are causing the younger generation to feel as if they will not belong in these fields. 

Although harassment plays a minor role in women being deterred from sciences and engineering, it is still an issue that many women face in the field. In a case conducted by Ingram a woman claimed that she had to listen to sexist jokes and she felt as if they were demeaning to all women and not just to herself (Ingram 13). She claimed that at times the comments did not bother her but after a while she felt as if the comments were disgusting and she did not want to hear them. Even though she was not in a hostile environment, she was still required to listen to the jokes in order to complete the task with her other male colleagues (Ingram 14). Women today have learned to take the harassment in order to try and complete their jobs. It is seen in the previous example that the female's success was more important to her than the sexist comments that were made all throughout their group task. This is not usually the case because women are known to be "less assertive and confrontational than that of their male counterparts" and that the females in the work force need to be "encouraged to assert themselves and, likewise, men need to be encouraged to work cooperatively" (Ingram 14). The basis of the harassment lies in the communication skills between both male and females in the field. Women need to become more assertive while men need to step back and give females a chance to show themselves instead of being automatically stereotyped like in the example in the pervious paragraph that they cannot succeed in the male-dominated workplace just because they are women. 

Education differences also tend to play a huge role in the decision of women to choose to stick with science and engineering careers. Jolene Kay Jesse states that "Women tend to use both sides of the brain when solving problems, while men generally use the left side" (831). She also states that women are "equally capable of solving math problems or navigating through problem-solving exercises" (831) just as men are and that they just go about a different way of doing so. She also points out flaws in the education system pertaining to men and women in science and engineering. She states that she finds it interesting that when women and girls fall behind the immediate reaction is that something is wrong with women and the way that they learn. When men fall behind, it is thought that something is wrong with the education system teaching them and that if men are falling behind then something needs to be changed (831). It is in fact nothing solely wrong with the females learning ability nor the education system but yet both equally. Women need to learn to adapt to the ways that men are taught while men also need to adapt to the changing gender roles in the engineering and science fields. The basis for all female engineering stems from childhood interest. Women should not be deterred from the field just because they feel as if they cannot learn the same way that males learn and that they are not fit for the career just because they do not take the same steps as men to solve problems when in the end they receive the same answer. 

Females are mostly deterred from the idea of becoming a scientist or engineer due to the fact that these careers as seen as "manly" and motherly figures would not succeed due to how "manly" and demanding the careers can be. Many women feel as if they cannot find the balance in being a mom and also working in a demanding, always changing science and engineering field. As stated by Roosenwald, those women who choose to try and balance family and work life are look upon as an "embarrassment" because one wonders why "someone with that an advanced degree would become a stay-at-home mom" (824). When in reality that is their only option due to the fact that the work demand is so incredibly high in these fields. Roosenwald describes her own situation with having to balance work and family when she discusses the time when her daughter was an infant and instead of choosing to become a stay-at- home mom, she chose to work. She says that her work hours were "6 a.m. to 3:30 p.m." and that "no one saw that [she] was at work before anyone else; all they saw was that [she] ducked out early every afternoon" (824). In order to have a successful career and also raise a family, many sacrifices must be made. Many of those not seen by others. Roosenwald is a prime example that women can be mothers while also engineers or scientists. But one must place the gender discrimination behind them and do what is best for themselves and their families but that they can also achieve great things in the process if one's mind stays focused on the goal. 

Women in todays society find it difficult to receive job offers, raises, and promotions due to the competition between men and women. Men are favored compared to women according to the article titled, "Men, Women, and the culture of Engineering." In the journal written by Gregg Robinson and Judith McIlwee, a female was demoted from her job positon despite the fact that she had years of experience and that was specifically trained by that company and the company even paid for her to continue her education to receive a bachelor's degree. The demotion all came down to the fact that she was a woman and that she possessed feelings of incompetence and not fitting in with her male colleagues even though she was perfectly capable of the job (412). It was also discussed in Jolene Kay Jesse journal that "those [women] who remain earn significantly less, get fewer honors and awards, and struggle more than their male colleagues" (31). By women choosing to fight stereotypes and remaining in the careers that they love, they are still not guaranteed success. They are not seen as equal according to the Ted Talk by Dr. Jenna Carpenter, identical resumes were reviewed and each time the male was seen as higher qualified for job opportunities and raises even though the resumes were exactly the same. Her talk actively speaks on professional development and the need to add diversity to the field without letting gender interfere in the process. In the "Why so Few" article, it was however stated that married women had an advantage over single women in the STEM field and that they were more likely to be promoted or hired based off their marital status. Some may see this as unfair, which it is, but many women who choose to leave the field due to family, it may not entirely be the issue at hand. 

Many reasons for women leaving the STEM field after receiving degrees are similar but also more complicated compared to men in the fields. Jolene Kay Jesse discussed research done by Anne Preston uncovered that men mostly left the workforce for more pay or better opportunity while women left for pay, opportunity, preference for other jobs, difficulty in combining a family and a scientific career, long work hours, and the perception that science and engineering are unfriendly domains for women (832). According to the article "Why so Few," women were just as successful as men but were less liked and more personally derogated that the equally successful men. This caused the women to have effects on their career outcomes and led to lower evaluations and less access to organizational rewards causing many to want to leave the field after a few short years (25). Out of those that did stay in the field, it was due to the fact they had a strong mentor or leader while those that left the STEM workforce did not (832). Those that chose to stay however had difficulty fitting into their jobs based of previously mentioned harassment and pay benefits. Many also had difficulty conducting research in the field of choice.

Research opportunities and grants are also quite hard to come by for female scientists and engineers. It was stated by Roosenwald that many women as they increased in age, receive less and less opportunity for research and when that research is done, they do not receive the proper credit for it. The younger generation is targeted in this journal by stating that many undermine the older generation of women that set out before them. By confronting the younger generation it is better seen that many women harass each other in order to gain the success that they desire. By limiting the research opportunities for the older generation of female engineers, they are steered from influencing and building up programs for younger girls who are just beginning their interest in sciences and engineering. 

Not all men and women agree that women are not given equal opportunities in engineering. In Abigail Powell's journal, it is discussed how women and men can both "do" and "undo" gender. By this it is meant that they believe that women create the hostile environments themselves, not on purpose, but they still solely create the problems that they claim are created by males in the field. She claims that the choices they make are affecting the gender equality rates without women even realizing what they are truly doing. The main point is that women are seen to cause problems by reacting at the problems they are faced. This in turn causes a bigger problem that the issue itself. However, this is not the case in todays society. 

In order for our generation to correct these problems that are faced before us, one must take into account of educating the younger generation about STEM programs and how men and women both play a vital part in the success of America. In the article "Why So Few," the foundation for a STEM career is laid early in life, but scientists and engineers are made in colleges and universities" (XV). The article suggests that it is in the hands of universities and colleges to attract females to the careers by improving departmental culture to help integrate females into the science and engineering world. The article also suggests enforcing title IX in science, technology, engineering, and math which would help give women full access to STEM fields. By both attracting more females to the careers, males would be forced to better communicate with females which would then better harassment issues which would eventually snowball into the gender divide that was recently discussed. In order to decrease the divide between males and females, one must start at an early age to discuss with children that math is not "manly" and that females can accomplish just as much as males. It is also up to the older generation to encourage girls to become a part of the STEM field and not to discourage them based off of their experience. It is important to encourage both males and females to stay a part of the field in hopes that the gap between male and female gender inequality will eventually fade and be a thing of the past. 

By closing the gender gap that exists in the engineering and science workforce, many women will feel confident in their ability to succeed. They will no longer be brought down by colleagues and feel as if they are not able to succeed based solely off of their gender. The time it will take to get females interested in the careers may take centuries, but it is important that those females who are interested in the careers get the attention they deserve and not feel as if they do not belong in a male-dominated career. Through all the research, it is clear that women can accomplish anything they set their minds to. If harassment and inequality issues cannot be completely solved, it is up to women to take matters into their own hands and learn to deal with the issues while continually encouraging the younger generation that it is acceptable to be different and to peruse the passion for the science and engineering fields no matter what males may tell them. 


