By Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, Reporter
COMPANIES offering science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) jobs must provide more opportunities for women to address the gender gap in the field, according to analysts.
“In the Philippines, it’s a combination of less preparation, so I think if we have more internships for women, we can prepare them for the workforce much better; and then also it’s really just the lack of opportunities within technical companies,” Carlota Salamat-Andres, director of engineering at Dutch firm NXP Semiconductors, told BusinessWorld on March 7.
Women make up only 36.3% of the STEM workforce in the Philippines, the biggest gender gap in the Asia-Pacific, according to a 2023 study by LinkedIn.
Ms. Salamat-Andres, a semiconductor and electronics engineer, also noted the decline in women choosing STEM studies in high school and college, flowing on to the limited numbers joining the STEM workforce.
In the Philippines, the average drop-off in female representation between graduation and entering the STEM workforce stood at 14%, LinkedIn reported.
“I think it’s still due to the perception that men are better in terms of technical or even in the sciences, which is of course not true,” Ms. Salamat-Andres said.
“We start in elementary with the same competence in math and sciences, but there’s still the perception of (men) being more hands-on and having a bit more knowledge in technical fields.”
Mid-career, female STEM workers choose to stop working or resort to a “less taxing” job as they are expected to focus on housework, Ms. Salamat-Andres said.
Women’s participation in STEM remains hampered by personal and cultural barriers, as well as systemic and structural issues, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said in a policy brief.
Some personal and cultural barriers include gender stereotypes and norms; limited role models; and lack of self-confidence; while structural barriers include the lack of access to technology, education services and facilities; and lack of gender-disaggregated STEM data to inform policies and programs, ASEAN said.
The government must push for gender equality in technical-vocational education and training to increase women’s access to technical fields like STEM, according to Federation of Free Workers President Jose G. Matula.
“This includes ensuring that women have access to scholarships and training programs that help them enter and succeed in underrepresented but high-demand fields such as engineering, construction, ICT (information and communications technology), and other technical careers,” Mr. Matula, a labor lawyer, told BusinessWorld via Viber.
The government must also expand STEM scholarships for women, while universities should actively recruit and mentor female students, he added.
In the workforce, STEM-related companies must ensure equal pay, fair promotions, and safe workplaces for their female workers, Mr. Matula added.
“These are some of the most in-demand yet hard-to-fill jobs due to the lack of skilled workers — a gap that women are more than capable of filling if given the right opportunities.”