Education Data: Gender issues

Each year in December, the prestigious Nobel Prize is awarded to scientists who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.
However, since its inception in 1901, only 25 women have won a Nobel Prize in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and Economics — a distressing disparity that reflects deeply ingrained gender stereotypes, biases and male-dominated cultures.
Worldwide, women are not encouraged to pursue educations and careers in science and technology. Biases, both conscious and unconscious, limit girls’ and women’s progress within these fields.
Not only are people more likely to associate science and technology with men than with women, but also often hold negative opinions of women in “masculine” positions like computer scientists and engineers.
Moreover, women are often judged less competent than their male colleagues. The few women who decide to pursue careers in science and technology are also paid less for their work compared to men and experience huge difficulties in advancing in their careers.
India tops world rankings in producing female graduates in STEM with 43% but employs only 14% of them.
In comparison, Sweden produces 35% female STEM graduates and employs 34% of them.
According to research from New York University’s AI Now Institute, 80% of AI professors are male and the situation is equally distressing on the industry side.
Tech giants like Facebook and Google might be on the cutting-edge of AI technology and research, but only 10-15% of their AI workforces are women. This is problematic as algorithms written by men end up skewed to favour men, especially white men.
When deployed in society (and increasingly so at a large scale), this translates into preferential treatment for one group (white men), while other groups may be ignored.
With the rapid digitisation transforming global societies at an unprecedented scale, the under-representation of women in science and technology puts them at the high risk of being displaced by technology.
The fight against gender disparity in science and technology must be fought by all — families, educational institutions, companies and governments.
Gender equality is not just an ethical imperative, but also a business priority. Organisations with greater diversity among their executive teams tend to have higher profits and greater innovation capability.
In fact, McKinsey & Company’s Global Institute report found that narrowing the gender gap could add between $12 and $28 trillion to the global GDP.

Source: TH

Join Our Telegram

India – Iran relations: Chabahar

India – China Trade relations

Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a and MASS EXTINCTION

25 Dec, 24
SHARE

Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a from the Paris Basin (Environment) Paper-3 PMP OAE 1a refers to a period during the Cretaceous Period (145 million years ago and ended 66 million years ago) when Earth's oceans became depleted of oxygen, causing a significant disruption in marine life. Cause: The event is believed to have been

Viksit Panchayat Karmayogi (Good governance)

26 Dec, 24
SHARE

Viksit Panchayat Karmayogi (Good governance) Governance GS PAPER-2 PMP Dr. Jitendra Singh launched the ‘Viksit Panchayat Karmayogi’ initiative on Good Governance Day, celebrated to mark the 100th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The initiative, which is part of the broader ‘Prashasan Gaon

Major programmes to control Air Pollution

23 Dec, 24
SHARE

Major programmes to control Air Pollution National Clean Air Programme? It was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in January 2019. It is the first-ever effort in the country to frame a national framework for air quality management with a time-bound reduction target. The

Air pollution and Air quality Measures in India

21 Dec, 24
SHARE

Air pollution and Air quality Measures in India (Environment) GS Paper-3 P-M-P Air pollution may be defined as the presence of any solid, liquid or gaseous substance including noise and radioactive radiation in the atmosphere in such concentration that may be directly and/or indirectly injurious to humans or other l

Geopolitical Significance of Ports

20 Dec, 24
SHARE

Geopolitical Significance of Ports (IR) Act as geopolitical assets: Ports enhance the projection of strategic reach, which helps strengthen the country’s control over important sea and energy supply routes. E.g. Indian Navy’s staging base at Agalega Islands will enable marine patrols