21 January 2013
JOBS: A study shows that men are more likely to be hired than women.
By Aysouda Malekzadeh, News Editor
Researchers at Yale University have found that those who hire university researchers and faculty in science, technology, engineering and math—STEM fields—have a bias toward hiring males. The study, conducted in September 2012, further shows that the bias occurs even when those doing the STEM hiring are women.
To conduct the study, researchers submitted false applications for a lab manager position at research universities. Half the applications had male names and the other half female names, but all the qualifications listed were identical. The applications with the male names were ranked higher at the universities. In addition, when recommended for hire, the male “applicants” were given a higher starting salary by nearly $4,000. The female “applicants” were rated significantly lower than the males in competence, hire ability and whether the scientist would be willing to mentor the student.
Sharon Walker, a UCR professor of chemical and environmental engineering, said that the results were not shocking. She lists a number of factors that contribute to the imbalance between males and females in STEM fields. Women are often discouraged at a young age from pursuing careers in science, usually from teachers or from peers; female students do not often see themselves holding such positions since most of the role models in scientific fields are males. Those who do advance and earn a bachelor’s degree often do not move on in their studies or find work in the field; social support, such as mentoring or maintaining flexible schedules to allow for family time, is not strong enough and there is an inherent bias.
Walker said, “Perhaps the biggest disappointment was that gender bias was universal. It scared a lot of us, not only realizing we’re not moving forward fast enough, but we’re doing it to ourselves.”
Moreover, other studies show that women are often given less desirable jobs once they get hired. Risa Dickson, a former engineer from Cal State San Bernardino, said, “People tend to be much harsher on women in the workplace. They’re far more likely to put women in charge of a project that’s likely to fail. The biases are very deep. And it’s women as much as men that do this to women.”
Kristy Fleming, dean of the College of Natural Sciences at Cal State San Bernardino, believes that social modeling is crucial for women. She suggests, “Women tend to like an environment that has more of a sense of community and collaboration. You have to actively promote that to make women feel more comfortable.” She claims that by doing so, women will be more encouraged to pursue research in STEM fields once they graduate.
Statistics of STEM field hiring for the years of 2008-2009 through 2012-2013 show that UC Riverside hired 66 males and 24 women, while Cal State San Bernardino hired 16 men and 15 women.