Baker: While women are earning college degrees, more men hold science roles

In 1960, 98% of all veterinarians in the U.S. were men. As of July 2023, just under 70% of the nation’s 49,000 veterinarians were women.

Interestingly, a year earlier, a survey found the average income for male veterinarians was $114,519 compared to $99,766 for their female colleagues. Not a bad salary, but note that women vets earned, on average, 87 cents for every dollar earned by men in the same profession.

A 2021 study by the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) reported that 37.1% of active physicians in the U.S. were female, and we can expect to see that percentage rise. Since 2019, there have been more women than men enrolled in U.S. medical schools.

But as for veterinarians, a 2022 survey by Statistica found the average annual income of female primary care physicians to be 80% of that earned by their male counterparts ($228,000 vs. $285,000). And over all medical specialties, female physicians earned 76% of the income of male specialists ($307,000 vs. $402,000).

Averages can be misleading, however. Some of this difference in compensation can be attributed to the gender imbalances in medical specialties.

Recalling that some 37% of American physicians are women, the AAMC study reported that female physicians tend to be disproportionately represented in fields that typically command lower salaries such as pediatrics (65.0%), obstetrics and gynecology (60.5%), and geriatric medicine (55.1%), while male physicians dominate many of the higher paying specialties like orthopedic surgery (94.1%), neurological surgery (90.4%) and intervention cardiology (91.8%).

Long disproven beliefs still affecting women's roles

At play here are an array of deeply rooted cultural issues ranging from overt discrimination based on disproven beliefs about women’s “natural” intelligence and abilities to a lack of role models and mentors along with gendered expectations about work-life balance associated with raising a family.

And these issues are not unique to medicine.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, each year since 1982, more American women than men have received bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and more doctoral degrees since 2006. Currently, women comprise about 57.7% of graduates receiving a bachelor’s degree, 60.7% of those receiving a master’s degree, and 54.2% of those receiving a doctoral degree.

Women now dominate the college-educated workforce

But it wasn’t until 2019, that women accounted for a greater proportion of the country’s total college-educated workforce. In 2022, the Pew Research Center reported there were 31.3 million women, 25 years and older, with at least a bachelor’s degree, compared to 30.5 million men (out of a total U.S. population of 333.2 million).

So, with this background that women constitute over 50% of the American college-educated workforce, it’s interesting to consider their presence in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) occupations.

The National Science Foundation divides the STEM workforce into three categories: Science and Engineering (S&E), S&E-related, and middle-skill occupations.

For this essay, let’s focus on the first group which typically requires at least a bachelor’s degree and is considered to include five groups of workers (1) computer and mathematical scientists, (2) biological, agricultural, and environmental life scientists, (3) physical scientists, (4) social scientists, and (5) engineers.

The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics reports that women constitute only 29% of the S&E workforce, and their presence is unevenly divided among the five subcategories. In 2021, they accounted for 61% of social scientists, 46% of biological, agricultural and other life scientists, 33% of physical scientists, 26% of computer and mathematical scientists, and 16% of engineers.

A STEM gender gap remains

While the number of women entering each of these fields has been on the rise, it is clear there remains a STEM gender gap. The American Association of University Women is one of many organizations that has addressed the underlying causes for the discrepancy between the percentage of college-educated women in the overall U.S. workforce and their percentages in the physical and computer sciences, mathematics and engineering.

Parents and teachers often underestimate girls’ math and science skills, and girls typically encounter fewer examples of inspiring role models in the media and books. Many girls have already lost confidence in their math skills by third grade. Later on, established male-dominated cultures within the so-called “hard sciences” make those areas less attractive to women.

And then there’s the myth of the male “math brain.” Research has repeatedly shown that no innate biological differences exist between men and women in math, while the surrounding culture greatly affects women’s interest and performance. In Maylasia and Indonesia, for example, women earn about half of all computing degrees and engineering degrees.

As one of fastest-growing professions where employers are finding it increasingly challenging to find qualified talent, STEM needs women. The United Nation’s Secretary-General, António Guterres, concisely states the obvious solution:

“We can all do our part to unleash our world’s enormous untapped talent — starting with filling classrooms, laboratories, and boardrooms with women scientists.”

Ken Baker is a retired professor of biology and environmental studies. If you have a natural history topic you would like Dr. Baker to consider for an upcoming column, please email your idea to fre-newsdesk@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Baker: Women need to be directed into STEM degrees