Women in STEM

STEM is the acronym for Science Technology Engineering and Math. According to the National Science Teachers Association (NTSA) "modern STEM education promotes not only skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, higher-order thinking, design, and inference, but also behavioral competencies such as perseverance, adaptability, cooperation, organization, and responsibility (NSTC 2018)." Also according to the NSTA while "the number of women in STEM-related jobs has increased in the areas of life and physical sciences, but has actually decreased in one of the highest-paying and fastest-growing STEM clusters: computer occupations. In 1990, 32% of workers in computer occupations were women; today, women’s share has dropped to 25%. Historically, women have been underrepresented in employment in STEM fields.  (Source: Disparities in STEM Employment by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin)  The increase of women in STEM areas outside of computers are indicative of greater  attention and efforts paid to women's education but the decreasing numbers of women in computer occupations signify that there's still work to be done.

Profiles of women at NASA

Barbara Brown, Director of Exploration Research and Technology at NASA