Selecting a major is a daunting task for many aspiring students. There are many factors to consider whilst doing so, to refrain from any outcomes which may result in distress or an occupation which they live to regret. In recent years an interesting pattern shows up during this process: boys tend to choose STEM-focused subjects like sciences while girls opt for creative ones such as arts and languages. Not only do we see this in universities, we can see this tendency from a young age. There are many reasons as to why this trend appears, and this situation must be rectified.
First of all, in spite of numerous changes to societal views regarding gender roles and many jobs becoming much more inclusive in the last decade, traditional gender roles still play a huge part in many people’s lives. For instance, in more conservative areas families still refrain from giving their daughters proper education or stand in the way of their dreams. This may discourage many women from choosing careers in science or maths. Considering the fact that STEM related fields are notoriously difficult in terms of course rigor, many women are afraid of failure and are not given enough space to experiment; which is essential for every science related field. There are many people who give up on their dreams and ambitions due to slight failures because they’re not used to it and an overwhelming amount of pressure coming from their parents doesn’t give them any time to do so. Last but not least, many women are belittled constantly in the workplace. Unfortunately, we still see coworkers who make fun or have prejudices against their female counterparts, which can be seen from their interactions. Some jokes coming from colleagues can be seen innocent at first, but are detrimental to women’s mental health due to their misogynistic content. Thus, we may come to the conclusion that pressure, a lack of opportunity and attitude towards women are three of the causes for which female students tend to stay away from these fields and take on more creative ones in which there aren’t as much pressure.
In this day and age, women should be encouraged to follow their passion regardless of their families’ expectations or underlying societal assumptions. From a young age, women should be given space to fail, to experiment and to live freely. This is only possible through education, if the peoples’ views don’t change, neither will the attitude towards women will. If the term “traditional gender roles” ceases to exist, opportunities for women would only go on to increase. Women should be given the liberty of doing what they want and not what is expected of them whether it is arts or sciences everyone must have the opportunity to live the life of their choice.
Consequently, the dogmatic and reactionary views of some people discourage women from following their desired careers in STEM focused fields, however through education this trend might easily be reversed. Women should be allowed to do whatever they want regardless of the views of their entourage. Only through freedom, shall society prosper and only through prosperity will it advance further.