On March 14, people across the country wear purple to support women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professions.

According to Pew Research, women make up 40% of the nation’s physical scientists. They are 48% of life scientists, compared to 47% in 2016. Women’s representation among mathematical workers has also slightly increased (46% to 47%).

Pew’s research also shows that women have increased their share of employment in some of the higher profile health-related STEM occupations. Women are 38% of physicians and surgeons and 33% of dentists. Among optometrists, 46% are women and 64% are veterinarians. Lastly, women make up 33% of EMTs and paramedics.

Women are more largely represented in medical occupations, according to Pew Research.

Dr. Feri Billiot is a chemistry professor at Texas A&M Corpus Christi who has been in the STEM field for 22 years. Billiot said she was inspired by a former teacher. She says she has seen an increase in women working in STEM since she started working in 2000.

“I do see more females at the undergraduate level, we do have a lot of undergraduate students who are female, also at Master’s level I see a lot of them,” she said. “But I think we still need to work on PhD, we need more females at the PhD level in chemistry.”

Billiot says she has also seen an increase in females taking research roles in the university which gives her hope for the future of women in STEM.