The STEM Gender Gap in Universities

While globally, there are now more women going to university than men, in some subjects a huge gender gap persists – especially in the ‘STEM’ subjects.

TopUniversities.com finds out more about the STEM gender gap, and asks why so few women study science and technology subjects at university.

According to industry news site The Engineer, women constitute just 8.7% of professional engineers in the UK. This is a particularly low level – the lowest in the EU, and significantly lower than countries like China, where more than a third of engineers are women.

However, across the world, gender imbalance continues to be a major issue not only in engineering, but in all of the ‘STEM’ subjects: science, technology, engineering and maths.

One thing that seems clear is that the gender gap is not at all connected to innate ability; girls are not less likely than boys to be good at these subjects.

In fact, The Engineer reports that in the UK girls outperform boys up to GCSE level (exams taken at age 16). But after this, the further on you go, the fewer women you find pursuing these subjects

For instance, women make up just 12% of engineering students at universities in the UK, and just 4% of those taking engineering apprenticeships.

In the US, a recent report from Georgetown University showed that only 16% of engineering majors are female.

This doesn’t mean there are less female students at university overall. In fact, as the World Bank’s 2012 report on Gender Equality and Development shows, more women now attend university than men.