According to a UNESCO report titled, Cracking the Code: Girls’ and Women’s education in STEM, only 35 percent of STEM students in higher education globally are women. This gaping gender gap is especially concerning when we consider that STEM careers are referred to as the jobs of the future. The report notes that a strong gender imbalance exists globally in regard to women’s representation in STEM fields, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Further, and according to the United Nations Institute of Statistics, less than 30 percent of the world’s researchers are women. Numerous studies have found that women in STEM fields publish less, are paid less for their research and do not progress as far as men in their careers.
