Challenging the Notion of the Pipeline Problem in STEM

Abstract

It is widely known that women are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We have a lack of women who choose STEM careers and women leave these careers at a higher rate than men. Women of color are especially underrepresented and face additional hurtles in building their STEM career. While interventions often focus on increasing female interest and confidence in STEM, my work addresses the lack of research on how STEM recruiting and hiring practices impact female career progression and career decision making (Friedmann & Efrat-Treister, 2023). Through identifying barriers women face during the recruitment process, I seek to break down societal inequities that limit female career progression in technology roles and lead to women feeling insecure about their career prospects despite having confidence in their technical skillsets.

Keywords

• women
• STEM
• career search
• pipeline
• self-efficacy