When people speak of engineers, scientists, and those who have degrees in math, they often say “he did a great job…” or “Is he up for the promotion anytime soon?”

It’s this unconscious assumption that the person being talked about is a man, that isn’t entirely accurate. It’s almost never heard about women succeeding more than men in science, technological, engineering and math based careers, despite their obvious success.

Senior students, girls in particular, were asked if they were entering math or science in college. Contrary to the popular belief, 75 percent of the girls said yes. The sample was of four- yes, that’s quite small but it doesn’t quite matter; their responses helped prove an important point.

All four agreed that more women are getting higher degrees in college-that’s not an unpopular idea. But what was shocking was that when asked about whether or not women and men go through the same struggles to get higher positions, the survey participants were split 50/50, some believing that men and women go through the same, while others believe that women go through more.

For those who aren’t well informed with the STEM and STEAM programs, STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. Regarding STEAM, all of the  repeated letters stand for the same subject and the added ‘a’ stands for art.

The same thing occurred when they were asked if they believed that society discourages girls from pursuing STEM careers. To add onto the fact that these girls were spilt, half of them agreed that the ratio of men and women in the future workforce are going to be equal, whereas the other two revealed that they thought men would continue to dominate.

To further the research, the concept of the “glass ceiling”- an invisible barrier that women and minorities encounter while attempting to further their careers- was brought up. Three out of the four girls believed that the concept is still relevant and that society, traditions, and girls themselves, are to blame for not wanting to take control and continue to follow traditions.

To make the investigation more fair, faculty members, who are of past generations, were asked about the same concepts. This was done in order to see if times have changed and if society is pushing towards a positive and equal change.

Denise Dalton, Guidance Department Chair, was helpful enough to answer some of the questions.

She said, “in the past, the girls that have come to me contemplating math and science based careers go more into medical rather that straight math and engineering careers. That’s not very different today.” She also said, “Those that do want to go into straight math and engineer careers are definitely the exception.”

When asked if she believed that more and more girls are going into STEM based careers, she was optimistic. “I hope so. I think there’s more exposure about these careers so I do hope so.”

Lastly, she was asked about society discouraging girls from going into STEM based careers and she had plenty to say. She said, “I don’t think they do anymore but if it was the 80s, that’s another story. In the 80s, nobody ever talked to girls about it. Now, if you’re interested you have exposure to it and you get to talk about it.”

She was kind enough to give the website of an organization, based in Chicago, that provides the means for girls to pursue STEM careers. For those interested, the website-displaying all smiling women- offers information on scholarships, membership, and possible job opportunities. *

Michael Beranek, Special Education teacher, had a different view to offer regarding the same concepts. When asked about whether or not society discourages girls from pursuing STEM careers he said, “I feel this is a cultural and regional issue. There will be more opportunities for women and men in more developed countries compared to less developed countries.”

Further into the discussion, Beranek was asked about girls pursuing STEM careers despite men dominating these fields and he said, “I really cannot say if men dominate the STEM fields. I think STEM education, at least the idea, is relatively new. I also think that STEM education may not be offered for school aged students in all schools. Environment, home, and community, I feel are factors that play a role.”

Beranek ended on a positive note, saying, “I do think there has been a shift in the way curriculum is presented to school aged students, which has influenced STEM and even STEAM education. With the change in curriculum and making STEM and STEAM more readily available, more women and men may find STEM related careers interesting.”

Whether or not the change to encourage more girls to go into STEM or STEAM careers is being pushed for, it’s vital that as a society we realize that greater things can occur if women and men are equally involved.