It’s recognized that fewer women than men hold college degrees in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
But a new report from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy shows that gender gap carries over into STEM-related entrepreneurship, too.
“We know degrees in the STEM fields provide for a lucrative and successful career path,” said Winslow Sargeant, chief counsel for the Office of Advocacy, in a release. “But we must also recognize STEM as an entrepreneurial opportunity—an opportunity that we want to make sure is equally available to both women and men. (The) study shows areas where policymakers may want to focus to improve women involvement in STEM entrepreneurship.”
The report found that:
- Female Ph.D.s across all STEM fields achieve lower rates of patenting and entrepreneurship than male Ph.D.s—5.4 percent compared to 7 percent, and 15 percent compared to 28 percent, respectively.
- In 2012, women continued to be far behind men in entrepreneurially disposed engineering Ph.D. fields, with women having only between 15 and 30 percent of these Ph.D.s.
- The gender gap in entrepreneurship rates are the widest in physics, astronomy, and computer science.
Possible solutions include:
- Increase the number of women faculty. More female students tend to enroll in programs with greater numbers of women faculty.
- Offer smaller work groups that allow female students to interact more with women mentors.
- Increase funding opportunities. Men tend to receive a larger share of private-sector funding sources given to Ph.D. programs.
- Conduct more research on whether parenting responsibilities have an impact on women’s involvement in STEM-related entrepreneurship.
The full report and a report summary can be found on the Office of Advocacy website at sba.gov/advocacy.
