Published January 10, 2022
By : Staff Writer
Not much has changed since Women of Color magazine did the pie chart above. According to Census Bureau estimates, although there were 10.8 million workers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) occupations in 2019, a recent study published by survey statisticians found that women are still underrepresented in the STEM workforce.
Anthony Martinez and Cheridan Christnacht said that while women made gains, men still made up 73% of all STEM workers and 52% of all U.S. workers.
In 1970, women made up 38% of all U.S. workers and 8% of STEM workers. By 2019, the STEM proportion had increased to 27% and women made up 48% of all workers.
The survey statisticians added that STEM occupations account for nearly 7% of all U.S. occupations.
In 2019, women made up nearly half of those in all math (47%) and life and physical science (45%) occupations, but women did not make the same gains in computer and engineering occupations, which made up the largest portion (80%) of the STEM workforce.
Women represented only about a quarter of computer workers and 15% of those in engineering occupations. They were, however, a majority of the nation’s social scientists. But social science accounted for only 3% of STEM occupations.
Women working in engineering occupations increased from 3% in 1970 to 15% in 2019. And while the percentage of women in computer occupations is higher than in 1970, it actually decreased between 1990 and 2019.
Among the 70 detailed STEM occupations the Census Bureau reports on, women earned more than men in only one STEM occupation: computer network architects. But women represented only 8% of those in this occupation.
The 2019 American Community Survey estimated the total civilian population age 16+ employed in STEM occupations at 10.8M. Women are 26.7% and earn 84.1% of men.
