Majority of girls prefer a career in science and technology: Report

NEW DELHI: The second edition of the Mastercard Girls in Tech research reveals that majority of girls in India prefer to pursue a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) . The study was conducted in December 2016 across 2,270 girls between the age group of 12 – 25 across six countries in Asia Pacific.

The research highlights that while gender gap in India still exists, there is greater acceptability amongst girls in choosing STEM subjects as a career choice with only 34 per cent of girls opting for non-STEM profession. As expected, parents were identified as the key barriers for girls to choose STEM subjects, stated a release. 40 per cent of the respondents felt that educational institutions can help improve the situation, by preparing female STEM undergraduates for STEM careers by way of offering more internship opportunities.

The research reveals that a majority of STEM graduates were clear on their choice of career and decided to pursue the stream in college at 21 years of age. With a high job satisfaction, 68 per cent of STEM professionals found employment in less than 6 months as against non-STEM professionals who took a year to decide on their career choice. It was also ascertained that these non – STEM professionals indicated a 33 per cent lower job satisfaction.