INSIGHT FROM …
Jennifer Schuttlefield Christus, Associate Professor of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Despite decades of investment into advancing gender equity in science, technology, engineering and math, women today account for only 28% of the STEM workforce. For individuals who are multiply marginalized, like Black, African American, Hispanic, Latinx, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+, and Transgender women, the underrepresentation is exceptional.
And while there is often significant attention given to the pathway between middle school and college for women in STEM, we also must focus on those who enter the workforce and aren’t retained. Recent reports indicate that more women are graduating with degrees in STEM fields than ever before, but women remain in STEM occupations at half the rate of men. After 10 years in a STEM field, fewer than 20% of women who graduated with college-level STEM degrees will remain, estimates say. These are women who had expressed interest in STEM, earned a college degree and entered the workforce. What went wrong? Why don’t they stay?
Research shows the lack of retention has a direct correlation to two predominant factors. One is the equitable opportunity to advance and develop in one’s career path. The second is an inclusive, welcoming culture of the workplace.
Diversity in the workplace, especially in leadership roles, has been shown to benefit everyone. Research has repeatedly demonstrated that diverse teams outperform homogenous ones in solving complex problems. Additionally, diverse teams have been shown to have higher levels of innovation, produce greater quality research publications, and are more likely to financially outperform their organization’s counterparts — leading to greater financial success.
Examining practices
Tangible steps organizations can take to attract and retain women into the STEM fields while also increasing gender equity in leadership roles include examining HR policies, protocols, and procedures for systemic bias; creating a talent pipeline with strong mentoring; actively supporting multiple forms of caregiving; monitoring service or “hidden labor” workloads; and creating an inclusive intuitional culture.
When it comes to the hiring, promotion or evaluation process, employers should examine policies for systemic barriers or informal “requirements” for a position. Criteria for the position should be aligned to the skills needed. Rankings or evaluations must be transparent, consistently applied and based on evidence. Rubrics with clear and consistent evaluation criteria can help, as can having a bias-trained committee evaluate job positions or leadership roles. Employers creating and maintaining workplaces with equitable opportunities for advancement and career progression will have a higher likelihood of retention.
Developing internal talent
Organizations can also overlook talent they already have or could develop. Inclusive, meaningful mentoring has been shown to be a strong recruitment and retention tool that helps women ensure that they aren’t missing out on opportunities. It can also help with goal-setting, navigating cultural issues and employee communication.
Another way organizations can support the talent they already have in place is to seek feedback and learn from employees. What do they need? What are you providing? Is there a way their work experience could be better? Offering career and professional development activities is an additional way to take advantage of your current talent pool.
Supporting caregivers
Another factor damaging to women’s career progression and therefore also recruitment and retention is that women bear more of the load for caregiving than men. Primary caregivers are often unfairly perceived as less dedicated employees, which may result in fewer professional development or promotion opportunities. How do your practices align? Do your positions require lots of travel? Working at night and on weekends? In the field? Is there a private, comfortable place for mothers to express breastmilk that isn’t a bathroom stall or a janitor’s closet?
A 2019 study by Erin Cech and Mary Blair-Loy from New York University found that 43% of women leave full-time STEM employment after the birth or adoption of their first child. Despite it being an invisible identity, caregivers can bring unique perspectives. Organizations can support all caregivers with flexible schedules, virtual meeting options, clearly defined leave policies, paid leave, job-sharing roles, nearby lactation spaces, and many other resources (e.g., onsite childcare) to help them succeed professionally and personally.
Distributing “hidden labor”
Service work is an important part of any organization. Women often carry a disproportionate burden of service workloads. This work can be either part of one’s job — like committee work or mentoring — or it can take the form of “hidden labor” — like cleaning or being the “lab mom” — where the work is often undervalued, not acknowledged, and does not apply in evaluations or promotions. Inequalities in service and invisible and emotional labor negatively affect women’s overall productivity, which can create both short- and long-term consequences for their careers. Evenly distributing and formally recognizing service work in evaluations and promotion processes can help bring transparency to the gendered role of service work and help decrease burnout.
Creating inclusion
Lastly, creating an inclusive culture will benefit everyone, including women in STEM. Each year the STEM community loses creative, smart, driven educated people. Inclusive practices are not only beneficial to current employees but also those you would like to recruit. Advertising clear pathways to advancement, resources like mentoring or for caregiving, and a commitment to an inclusive culture can encourage someone to sign on!
There are direct benefits of diversity in leadership, but we have yet to see women-identifying individuals in large numbers of STEM leadership roles. It is important to understand and address the cultural issues and barriers women encounter in their pursuit of STEM careers. Interventions aren’t just important at the early stages, but also in the workplace.
Jennifer Schuttlefield Christus, Ph.D. is an associate professor of chemistry at UW-Oshkosh who is currently serving as the director of the University of Wisconsin System Alliance for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Advancement in STEM (UW System IDEAS Alliance) and the interim associate director for the UWO University Studies Program. She is the principal investigator for the university’s ADVANCE UWO grant from the National Science Foundation, through which she is studying how to increase and retain women in academic STEM.
