![]() Since fewer women than men are graduating from STEM fields (Wall 2019), Note this underrepresentation of women likely contributes to overall gender disparities in labour market outcomes such as employment, job match and earnings (Brown and Corcoran 1997 Beede et al. Note At the aggregate level, data from the 2016 Census of Population show that full-time, full-year average wages and salaries of STEM bachelor’s degree graduates were about $15,000 higher than those of their non- STEM counterparts ($92,800 versus $78,025) in 2015 (Statistics Canada 2016). ![]() To date, graduates of many STEM programs have typically earned more than those of non- STEM programs. Over time, this may result in increasing demand for science-, technology-, engineering- and mathematics- (STEM) based skills in the labour market. As today’s world becomes increasingly digital, technology plays a greater role in innovation and economic development. With so many young women in universities and colleges, there is a real potential for wage parity, but program selection is key (Frenette and Handler 2020). Numerous studies have shown that women earn less than men, despite having achieved higher levels of educational attainment (Pelletier, Patterson and Moyser 2019). Ping Ching Winnie Chan, Tomasz Handler and Marc Frenette are with the Social Analysis and Modelling Division, Analytical Studies Branch, at Statistics Canada. Gaining further insights into the gender gap in STEM may require additional data in these areas. Gender differences in STEM role models (teachers or parents), as well as interest, confidence, and societal norms, could also play important roles in understanding the gender differences in STEM enrolment and graduation, and could potentially also explain the gender difference in STEM-readiness. An even smaller portion of the gender gap in engineering enrolment can be explained by these factors. ![]() Only one-third of the gender gap in STEM enrolment and graduation among bachelor’s degree students can be explained by gender differences in academic performance in STEM-related and non- STEM-related high school subjects, STEM-readiness (denoted by taking at least three Grade 12 STEM-related electives), and neighbourhood and high school characteristics. Female bachelor’s degree graduates are slightly more likely than their male counterparts to enrol in other STEM fields. Among bachelor’s degree students, by far the largest gap in STEM enrolment is within engineering programs, while much smaller gaps exist in other math-intensive STEM fields. For both the high school graduates and bachelor’s degree student samples, the gender gap in graduation from a bachelor’s degree STEM program is about as large as the gender gap in STEM enrolment. However, when the subsample of high school graduates who enrolled in a bachelor’s degree program is considered, the gender gap in STEM enrolment is almost twice as large (36.4%). The gender gap in STEM enrolment falls to 19.9% when focusing only on bachelor’s degree STEM programs. The results suggest that among high school graduates, women are 29.8% less likely than men to enrol in a postsecondary STEM program shortly after graduation. The study relies on enrolment and graduation data from universities and colleges (the Postsecondary Student Information System), and academic performance and preparation data before high school graduation for British Columbia students. Results are also generated based on a traditional definition of STEM and for alternative broad and narrow definitions of STEM. Results are generated for all high school graduates and the subsample who enrolled in a bachelor’s degree program. ![]() The goal of this study is to estimate gender differences in the probability of enrolling in and graduating from a STEM-related postsecondary program (particularly at the bachelor’s degree level). For example, graduates of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs typically earn more than non- STEM graduates, but women in universities and colleges are considerably less likely than their male counterparts to select STEM fields. In this regard, field of study choice is key as earnings tend to vary substantially along this dimension. While many factors may explain the gender wage gap, the gap in educational attainment favouring women may offer the potential for future reductions in the wage gap. Despite women outnumbering men in postsecondary institutions, men continue to earn more than women in the labour market. ![]()
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