Over 90% Children Recall Male Role Models As Inspiration In STEM Fields

Women in STEM: According to a survey conducted by company Avishkaar, 95 % of children, including girls, recall male role models as inspiration in STEM fields. Furthermore, 30 % of parents think that the STEM work environment is not conducive for girls to thrive.

The survey named India’s Future in Next-Generation Tech & STEM was conducted in June 2021. The children from Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune, Delhi NCR, Chennai, Hyderabad, Cochin and Mumbai. In the survey, 5000 parents and children were asked about various things related to STEM, the underrepresentation of women, and more.

The survey revealed that 30 % of parents think that the underrepresentation of women in STEM is because of societal pressures. On the other hand, 42 % of parents surveyed felt that parents’ influence plays a role.

The survey also highlighted that the parents opined towards having more implementation hands-on learning and introduce children to the world of innovation as a part of the curriculum, and also wanted to drift away from the conventional learning techniques.

53 % of parent respondents claimed using hands-on learning methods to sustain their children's interest in Technology and STEM subjects. Around 33 % of parents felt that the existing school curriculum was enough.

Out of the 5000 surveyed parents, 56 % of them preferred their children to pursue IT/ Technology over other subjects. In contrast to this, only 23 % of parents were willing to send their children to Arts fields.

Pooja Goyal, COO, and co-founder, Avishkaar said, "It is important that we provide safe spaces for children, especially girls, to take risks and help them build tribes where they can brainstorm ideas and think outside the box."

She further added that, "The next important step is gender neutrality, where not every girl has to pursue STEM careers, but children who are really good at it and have interest in the field should have the opportunity to do that."