With the recent passing of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on
February 11th and February being Black History Month, it is important to acknowledge the
disparities black women face in the STEM workforce. Despite progress in women’s inclusion
and achievements in science, black women are still underrepresented in STEM jobs. For
example, Ishi Singh from Yale Scientific reports that while women make up 52% of the
college-educated workforce, just 29% of women are in the science and engineering workforce, and of those 29%, only 2.5% are Black women [1]. Thus, to celebrate women’s advancements in science, we must also recognize the barriers entering the field and the inequalities Black women face.
What explains the disparity?
While numerous factors contribute to the underrepresentation of Black women in
STEM, including racial and gender bias, gatekeeping, and underfunded education, scholars
attribute this issue to a “leaky pipeline,” which is defined as the “progressive loss of
competent women faculty members in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics” throughout various stages of their careers [2]. This pipeline suggests that
throughout the various stages of career advancement, fewer Black women are represented at further stages. For instance, the number of minority women in STEM decreases from 13.3% with bachelor's degrees to 12.4% with master's degrees, 6.8% with doctorate degrees, and just 4.8% in the workforce [1].
Barriers to Black Women in STEM’s representation in the workforce:
1. Selection: Harmful stereotypes perpetuate ideas about Black women that can hinder
their ability to enter the field.
2. Retention: Isolation of Black women through discrimination in the workplace, such as
microaggressions, bullying, and lack of civil behaviour, discourages them from staying
in the workforce.
3. Promotion: Black women in academia are expected to take on jobs outside of their
research more than male staff, such as being called upon to teach classes about racial
or ethnic issues. While these classes are important, Black women can be penalized for
the time it takes away from their contribution to research [2].
What are the effects?
● Treatment Disparity
○ Reports of racial bias and myths in healthcare have led to inaccuracies in pain
assessment and treatment recommendations [3]
● Increase in Racial and Gender Wealth Gap
○ With STEM occupations paying higher than other occupations, a lack of Black
women increases economic disparities [4]
● Decrease in Representation
○ Role models are important for inspiring and creating the next generation of
women in science. If Black women are not seen in the field, we can expect
fewer Black girls to seek out STEM careers and believe in their capabilities.
How do we address these barriers?
● Education: Bias Training, Anti-Racism, Black History, Highlighting Black Scientists’
Contributions
● Diverse Hiring Practices
● Networks and Mentorship Opportunities
● Addressing Uneven Workloads [2]
Recognizing the Achievements of Black Women in STEM
Mae Carol Jemison
● Engineer, physician, astronaut
● First Black woman to travel to space
● Studied Chemical Engineering at Stanford and Medicine at Cornell
● Peace Corps medical officer
● Director of the Jemison Institute for Advancing Technology in
Developing Countries
● Inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, National
Medical Association Hall of Fame and Texas Science Hall of Fame [5]
Wangari Maathai
● Environmental and human rights activist
● The first woman to obtain a Ph.D. in East and Central
Africa
● Founded the Green Belt Movement
● First African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize
● Elected member of the Kenyan parliament
● Served as assistant Minister in the Ministry for
Environmental and Natural Resources [6]
Alex Canady
● Pediatric neurosurgeon and chief of neurosurgery at the
Children's Hospital in Michigan
● The first female African American neurosurgery resident
and neurosurgeon in the United States
● Inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame
● Received the American Medical Women's Association
President's Award
● “The greatest challenge I faced in becoming a
neurosurgeon was believing it was possible” [7]
References
1)Singh, I. (2020, November 27). By the Numbers: Women in STEM: What do the statistics reveal
about ongoing gender disparities? Yale Scientific.
tatistics-reveal-about-ongoing-gender-disparities/
2) Liu, S. C., Brown, S. E. V., & Sabat, I. E. (2019). Patching the “Leaky Pipeline”: Interventions
for Women of Color Faculty in STEM Academia. Archives of Scientific Psychology, 7(1), 32-39.
3) Hoffman, K. M., Trawalter, S., Axt, J. R., & Oliver, M. N. (2016). Racial bias in pain assessment
and treatment recommendations, and false beliefs about biological differences between
blacks and whites. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(16), 4296-4301.
4)Fry, R., Kennedy, B., & Funk, C. (2021, April 1). STEM Jobs See Uneven Progress in Increasing
Gender, Racial and Ethnic Diversity. Pew Research Center.
creasing-gender-racial-and-ethnic-diversity/
5) Alexander, K.L. (2018-2019). Mae Jemison. National Women’s History Museum.
6)UNESCO. (n.d.). Wangari Maathai.
7) Biography. (2014, April 3). Alexa Canady.