After more than two decades of a career as a woman in STEM, D Sangeeta launched Gotara, a platform to offer professional support and advice to other women in the field, amidst the pandemic. She had noticed that although female participation in STEM education has increased to a gender ratio of 50-50, things tend to go downhill when women join the workforce.
She explains, “I found that maybe five percent of those women really, really want to be mothers and nothing else. About 95 percent of these women wanted a sense of belonging and intellectual stimulation, and did not want to leave the workforce. They were either pushed by the work environment, or the home environment.”
Continue reading: https://yourstory.com/herstory/2021/09/women-in-stem-tech-pandemic-community/amp
The most common reason is believed to be that women reach the age where they want to start a family and focus at home, but Sangeeta saw a different reality as she began interviewing women who were on leave, had quit, or opted for part-time roles.“Forty percent of women leave their STEM jobs in the first five to seven years - either completely quitting, or going to different fields that pay less,” she tells HerStory.
She explains, “I found that maybe five percent of those women really, really want to be mothers and nothing else. About 95 percent of these women wanted a sense of belonging and intellectual stimulation, and did not want to leave the workforce. They were either pushed by the work environment, or the home environment.”
Continue reading: https://yourstory.com/herstory/2021/09/women-in-stem-tech-pandemic-community/amp