{"id":31984,"date":"2023-10-20T14:26:34","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/what-fewer-women-in-stem-means-for-their-mental-health-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:26:34","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:26:34","slug":"what-fewer-women-in-stem-means-for-their-mental-health-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/what-fewer-women-in-stem-means-for-their-mental-health-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"What fewer women in STEM means for their mental health – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/em><\/span>\u201cYou\u2019re in engineering!?! Wow, you must be super-smart\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n It has been over 10 years since I was a first-year engineering undergraduate student; but when I remember the time a fellow female student made this comment, I can still feel a visceral, bodily reaction: my muscles tense, my heart rate increases, my breath quickens.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Comments like these on the surface appear as compliments. But when unpacked, they reveal subversive attitudes about women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n As I think back to this encounter, there are two aspects that stay with me. First was the surprised, skeptical tone of the other student\u2019s voice that conveyed it was surprising and unusual (or, to put it more crudely, freakish) that I was in engineering. Second was the attitude that since I was in engineering, this could be explained only if there was something exceptional or outstanding (or, once again, freakish) about me. Women remain an underrepresented group in STEM. In Canada, women account for 23% of engineering graduates<\/a> and 30% of mathematics and computer graduates<\/a>. In the United States, women are 12% of the engineering and 26% of the computing<\/a> workforce.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The reality is that STEM professions are most commonly male and it remains surprising when these professional roles are held by women. The large gender imbalance means that women may naturally feel they\u2019re outsiders at school and at work. This situation is often uncomfortable and mentally demanding, when even just showing up and doing your job comes with constant social stresses and anxiety. Ironically, the difficulties that they (we) encounter often dissuade the next generation of women from joining us. It\u2019s a self-reinforcing cycle that we need to break.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Because of their underrepresentation, women in STEM often regularly question their place in these professions. When things feel uncomfortable \u2013 like when I was confronted with that comment a decade ago \u2013 our brains can overinterpret the situation as an imminent threat. And there\u2019s an evolutionary reason for that physical response.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Stress<\/a> is an adaptive response to perceived threats. It\u2019s how the body reacts to these situations<\/a>. Anxiety is stress that lingers after the immediate threat is gone; it\u2019s experienced as a feeling such as embarrassment, fear or worry<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\nFight or flight, designed for quick response<\/h2>\n