An Asia-Pacific study shows female teens are still reluctant to enter the STEM section even if they’ve studied a relative subject.
A recent Asia-Pacific survey has found that many young women still harbour some worrying misconceptions towards stem, suggesting the industry’s gender-imbalance will likely continue for some time to come.
Conducted by financial giant Mastercard, the study compiled responses from 2,270 females aged 12-25 across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
According to Georgette Tan – Mastercard’s senior vice president for communications – the research highlighted “some deeply held misconceptions by young girls and young women with regards to the study and pursuit of STEM.”
Among the teen girls surveyed, 30 per cent said that they would not choose STEM jobs despite studying STEM subjects and 39 per cent believe that STEM subjects are difficult. Two in five also reported that girls are less likely to choose STEM subjects because of a perception that STEM jobs are male-dominated.
However, despite the aversion by girls and young women, it seems those who do enter the STEM sector can look forward to good job prospects and a rewarding career.
Eight-four per cent of Asia-Pacific women who graduated with STEM degrees were able to land a job in their field of expertise within six months and 60 per cent of those said they were “very satisfied” with the job options they had after graduation.
A notable 63 per cent of the STEM first jobbers also indicated they were likely to stay in STEM related fields for their entire career.
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