What helps a girl discover STEM may not be what a woman needs five, ten or twenty years later to build a career there.
A new study published in the Journal of Science Education and Technology offers an interesting perspective on how women’s needs and experiences can change along their STEM journey.
Researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 15 women who had participated in FIRST Robotics, analysing 1,273 coded statements about their experiences. Environmental factors emerged particularly strongly, including opportunities, limitations and a sense of belonging.
But the researchers also found differences associated with professional maturity. Participants at earlier academic stages placed greater emphasis on belonging, while early-career professionals placed more emphasis on impact and labour-economic considerations. Leadership and scholarship experiences also appeared to provide important forms of support.
One finding was particularly striking. The researchers describe an “Inclusion Paradox”: inclusion was the most frequently discussed programme value, yet 86% of statements about it were negative. In other words, saying that inclusion matters does not necessarily mean that women experience an environment as inclusive.
For HER TECH, this provides an important reminder. Supporting women in STEM and ICT cannot mean finding one intervention and applying it throughout an entire educational and professional journey.
A schoolgirl discovering technology, a university student wondering whether she belongs, and an experienced professional navigating career progression may need different things.
And there is another important distinction: age is not the same as generation, and generation is not the same as career stage. Understanding women’s experiences means paying attention to all three.
Perhaps the question is therefore not simply “What supports women in STEM?”
It is “What do women need – and when?”
