Women in mathematics, Science, and Engineering
The period of globalization and fast technological development has evolved the way in which things are carried out and also it has changed the lives of people intensely. Science and technology disciplines play an essential role in the current world we are living in. the governments in both developed and the developing nations has identified the significance of the development of science and technology. Gender roles have also changed radically in the contemporary society. Women are nowadays having the liberty to express themselves and also to actively participate in developing technologies though there are still some problems in the world. According to the United States report of 2011, the report suggests that there is the need for identifying the significance of applying a gender lens to science and technology disciplines so as to enhance more development. This gender lens will be important once they are applied since they will reflect the objectives concerns, situations, and capabilities of both the male and the female gender. Therefore the science and technology lens will not be efficient, equitable and sustainable not unless this gender lens has been applied. It is, therefore, important to note that gender equality is one of the elements of a healthy society and hence the aspect of true development. The understanding of the contribution and the role of women in science and technology will bring about development in the society through positively impacting the world. This paper, therefore, will focus its argument on the role of women in the field of technology, engineering, and science. It will also discuss the technological changes and the impacts these changes has impacted in the roles of the women and the ideas of gender.
Over the years, women have played an important role in the knowledge of scientific processes. Throughout the centuries, the scientific women have been able to shape the people’s understanding of the technical expertise.
Half of the population is made up of women and they have been significant in the improvement of fields such as the medicine and agriculture. One way through which the women have been able to succeed in the scientific field is through the knowledge of botany (Khuntia et al 300). Their role is particularly of the essence in pursuing strategies of sustainable development since the women have been traditionally actively involved in the disciplines of health, energy and food production which is the core element of sustainable development in science (Khuntia et al 300). Thus women have been so closely involved with their families and children and hence they have had unique approaches to science and its application that insists on the human aspect of science and technology and its value in evolving the quality of life and the empowerment of the human race. A high percent of the women in the world has chosen to take part in the life sciences. This is strength especially in the problems that are faced in the developing world. This is because the engagement in these life sciences such as in agriculture, health as well as in nutrition and education, the results of their participation is a piece as compared to other sciences such as in physics, chemistry and biology which may lead to war and domination.
In the education sector, the women are believed to perform far much better than the men and they make up to half of the workforce in the national labor force. The gender gap in the scientific sector has continued to widen more than in other occupations and especially in the mathematics rigorous disciplines such as in computer discipline and in engineering. Basing on statistics, the half of the population of women in America occupy 25% of jobs in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics as they earn 33% more than those who are not employed in science and technological jobs (Beede et al 1).
It is therefore, important to note that the role of women in the field of science and in the job market is rising each and every single year and this is a positive thing that indicates that the women are awakening and they are thus participating in the development of the world.
One of the key essentials in the role of women scientists is their ability to change the worldwide intolerable situations into the developmental opportunities. These opportunities involve the turning of the population outburst into healthy reproductive, poverty, and environmental deprivation into sustainable human growth and violence into peace and also cohesion. Women are therefore viewed as creators and knowledge users who are able to bring together things in new ways and not just perform as laboratory scientists. They are thus making a lot of progress and they are more than often not recognized neither appreciated.
Most of the women are able to perform well in the day to day food inspection and in veterinarians who specialize in the health of the animals. The women also ensure that the use of science is for the better of the society rather than the destruction of the society. This is because the women are more concerned about the ethical aspect as compared to the men thus they are able to ensure that science and technology are institutionalized in a better way. Thus the involvement of the women in science and technology fields only means that the use of science and technology is purposely for the constructive and not for destructive motives.
Women are talented and their role in the society and in science and technology cannot be ignored since the women ensure that the people are able to lead quality lives. Hence the exclusion of the women from science and technology in any society deprives the society half of its capability to solve issues that the people are facing. The women have contributed in the clothing preparation through the use of science.
This is another field of science that the women have participated widely as they usually are involved in the preparation of the hides, weaving and also sewing activities. They have thus invented and developed preservatives, softening products, bleaching elements as well as dying components for clothing materials. Thus they have developed sewing machines that they are using for the designing of the many unique clothes with different dyes used by the women. They have thus come up with so many beauty products that they have created so as to enhance the beauty of the other women in the society.
They have also participated in the development of the machines especially in the medical department. Some of the medical equipment has been widely invented by the women. In the nineteenth century, for instance, the women invented the sterilization methods and equipment, the medical beds and the chairs, the stretchers, ambulances, advanced speculum, and splints. Also, a team of women such as Justine Wagner also modernized the intravenous drip and assisted in the resuscitation practices for the patients who suffer electric shock and cryogenic therapy so as to destroy the cancer cells.
Women have a high ability to attain high results in the world of science and technology and their brains work effectively when it comes to suing their knowledge. They thus do not engage in so much complex and complicated technologies but they rather take into consideration the world of application and the utilization of technology which is more available to the people. Women have proved to take a more practical approach in the field of science and technology hence they mainly lay their focus on what the machines can do to ensure that things are done rather than concentrating on what makes the machine.
As men concentrate on designing machines that would enhance them control and power over the other people, the women on the other side are more focused on producing machines that are of assistance to the people and make their lives easier. Thus the women easily adopt technologies and make their use more efficient and more comfortable for the people and this explains the reason as to why women are mostly involved in the improvement of the things that already exist.
Development of technology has adversely affected the lives of the women in so many ways. These technological changes have resulted in the women leading different lives than the ones they were leading before. Gender roles as well have adversely changed as the society is rapidly changing as they are adopting the technological and the scientific changes (Jacobsen 17). The women have practically implemented science even in their homes such as the implementation of the use of microwave, gas, dry cleaners and vacuum cleaners which has eased the roles of women in their house chores (Jacobsen 16). This has thus enabled them to be left out with so much time to themselves. It is through proper use of the time left that the women have been able to engage in science and technological development. The women have reduced the rate at which they are giving birth since they have been involved in the labor force so much that they spend so much time in the development of science and technology and minimal time is left in to give birth (Jacobsen 19). The women are occupying greater positions in the workforce as they are fully utilizing their potentials in the technological and scientific advancements in the society. Therefore the value of the women is currently rising. The women and especially the girl child are offered education as they have proven to be talented in the scientific and the technological fields. The number of the women enrolling in the science, engineering, technological and mathematics classes in the universities and colleges have increased over the years.
As more and more women are engaging themselves in the technological field they are setting records through their improvements and innovations (Jacobsen 19). This has greatly helped in the empowering of the young women who are not involved in the science, engineering, and technology.
As a result of technological change, the women have been widely involved in the development and the positioning of the lifecycle of a certain technology. This has thus resulted in the initiation of the positive chain reaction. The women are therefore considered and are directly referred at critical signs marking the path from commencement to distribution in the field (Burek et al 6). Thus efforts have been made to support the women in accessing the technology and loans have been offered to them so as to enhance them to be able to purchase the technology and also in training them to use the technology (Brooks et al 9). The women have been able to use the advanced technology for their economic benefit. Over the years the women have been able to improve their productivity using the changed technology and thus they have been able to offer better health and nutrition and better education for their children and the whole society.
Some of the employees have formed ideas that the women have a competitive edge than the men and hence they have worked hard to ensure that the women are well equipped with the changes in technology. For instance, the global information communication and technology (ICT) have globalized their operations where they set apart many opportunities for women so that they can economically advance (Brooks et al 17). Thus for them to be able to attain high levels of the economic ladder, the women are trained on how to use technology. Thus as they advance their technological skills they are able to be employed in career enhancing opportunities where they are highly paid hence economically advancing (Trauth 847).
Therefore the CISCO Company has launched training programs where they offer the women with technical skills in ICTs (Brooks et al 17). It is thus clear that the job market is also globalizing in offering the women the power to experience the world of technology, science, and engineering. International donors, private organizations, and the government has emerged in funding women’s scientific and technological advancements as they are strongly convinced that certain features of technology interventions have been most efficient in encouraging women’s access to and the utilization of technologies in varying settings and over time (Brooks et al 20).
However, the role of the women in science, technology, and engineering has faced numerous challenges that have resulted to the demoralizing of the women in the society. There has been gender inequality even in offering education to the women as the men are ones that are mostly offered with the scientific and the engineering education. Also in the employment sector, there has been so much discrimination where the women are not given high roles in the job while the men are the ones that are given the roles. This has contributed to low participation of the women who feel that they are not appreciated in their work and hence they feel inadequate.
It is thus important to ensure that there is gender equality in every sector so as to enhance the development of a healthy society. This will help in the utilization of all the talents that are available in the entire society that is from both the men and the women. This will enhance greater development in the society and in the entire world. Women should also not be perceived as potential utilizers of technology but rather they should also be engaged in the repairing, operating of technology and teaching of others on how to use technology (Brooks et al 23). Thus it is important to formulate and implement policies that offer an enabling environment to reduce hindrances to women’s capacity to access and use technology. These policies, therefore, will enhance the women to successfully harness technology for their economic development.
This will, therefore, ensure that gender equality in the scientific, technological and engineering fields and as a result there will be the multiplication of the technological productivity (Brooks et al 24).
Conclusion
Women are important in the society and in the development of almost all sectors. It is, therefore, important for all of us to recognize the women’s role in science, technology and in engineering so as to be able to support them. Supporting the women in their roles will encourage them and also it will ensure that they are able to utilize all their potential and talents. This will result in the entire human race leading better and quality lives as the women will utilize their technological skills and scientific skills to advance and improve existing goods and invention of new ones. Exceptional results will be seen as the women work along with men. Also, there will be more development as they will all work towards attaining scientific and technological success.
References
Beede, David N., et al. "Women in STEM: A gender gap to innovation." Economics and Statistics Administration Issue Brief 04-11 (2011).
Brooks, Kirrin Gill Kim, and Janna McDougall Payal Patel Aslihan Kes. "bridging the gender divide."2010.
Burek, Cynthia V, and B Higgs. The Role of Women in the History of Geology. London: Geological Society, 2007. Print.
JACOBSEN, JOYCE P. "The Role of Technological Change in Increasing Gender Equity with a Focus on Information and Communications Technology." (2011).
Khuntia, S, A Parida, and Vibhuti N. Misra. Proceedings of the International Seminar on Downsizing Technology for Rural Development, Isdtrd-2003, October 7-9, 2003, Regional Research Laboratory, Bhubaneswar. New Delhi: Allied Publishers, 2003. Print.
Trauth, Eileen M. Encyclopedia of Gender and Information Technology. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Reference, 2006. Internet resource.
