Women Fleeing Science, Tech Fields

The talent pipeline of female workers in science, engineering and technology fields is on the rise, yet many women -- faced with hostile work environments, extreme work pressures and isolation – are fleeing these in-demand fields in droves. That’s according to “Athena 2.0,” a new report by the Center for Talent Innovation, which surveyed women in science, engineering and technology (SET) fields in the US, Brazil, China and India, and found that while women make up nearly 50 percent of SET college graduates in every nation, roughly one-third of them say they feel stalled and are likely to not only quit their jobs within one year but to leave their respective SET field entirely.

“There’s unique challenges that women in different industries face,” Tara Gonsalves, a senior research associate at the Center for Talent Innovation, told Wired Workplace. “Women in science are struggling against the lab coat culture, women in engineering are facing the hard hat culture and women in technology are facing the geeky, late-night hacking culture.”

In the United States specifically, the majority (80 percent) of women love their work, yet many feel excluded from male-dominated “buddy networks” and lack female role models. Most SET women (86 percent) in the US also lack sponsors or mentors, and nearly half (46 percent) believe senior managers more readily see men as leadership material. In addition, many SET women in the US (54 percent) say they are eager to get to the top of their organizations, yet nearly one-quarter (23 percent) feel a women could never get a top position at their company. US respondents also felt their leadership does not endorse (62 percent) or implement (75 percent) ideas from SET women.