Did you know that March is Expanding Girls’ Horizons in Science and Engineering Month?

Why is this important and why should engineering companies take notice? According to the U.S. Census Bureau “women are vastly underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and math workforce.” As reported that while women have made gains since the 70s, women account for only 27% of STEM jobs. Among the STEM professions, the percentage of women in engineering is the lowest, at about 15%. It’s proven that companies with more gender diversity on their executive teams significantly outperform those with less diverse representation, giving a strong case for gender diversity.

So, what is STEM? It is a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines: Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  Traditionally STEM fields have fewer women in them.  Why? Girls were not traditionally encouraged to consider science, or engineering as possible careers.  This results in a large gender disparity with boys being encouraged to take the STEM path, then filling the positions later on.

Times they are a-changin’.

In the last few decades, we have seen a rise in awareness of gender disparities and the growing equality of encouragement for STEM education through many education programs.  Not only are we seeing STEM toys being marketed equitably we’re also seeing an increasing number of bootcamps, labs, and groups dedicated to training girls to pursue careers in science, tech, or engineering.

As the influx of women in the STEM industries rise, girls are beginning to see themselves represented in the STEM niche and the gender gap is slowly starting to close.  Triad is passionate about spreading the word and encouraging awareness. We participate in events throughout the year designed to encourage girls and women into engineering and other science based disciplines.  We look forward to stepping up our game in the coming years and seeing our numbers equalize.

This month, and every month, it’s time to encourage girls and women to pursue their passions.