New report on women in STEM reveals gender divide in business roles

NEW DELHI: A new global report released by Catalyst, a global non-profit organisation that aims to expand opportunities for women at the workplace, reveals new layers of inequality for women in business roles in STEM (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics) industries.

According to the report, titled ‘High Potentials in Tech-Intensive Industries: The Gender Divide in Business Roles’, only 18% of women opted for a business role in a tech-intensive industry immediately following their MBA, compared to 24% of men.

53% of women who started out in a business role in a tech-intensive industry post-MBA left to take a position in another industry, compared to 31% of men. The report is the first by Catalyst to study men and women in business roles in technology-intensive industries such as high tech and telecommunications, oil and gas, and automotive manufacturing.

“STEM companies face a serious talent drain as women take their skills elsewhere, but these organisations also have a remarkable opportunity to turn things around by focusing on how they can make all their talent—men and women alike—feel equally valued,” Deborah Gillis, president and CEO, Catalyst said in a statement.

Among other findings of the report, despite having the same education as their male counterparts, women in business roles in tech-intensive industries were more likely than men to start in entry-level positions (women, 55%; men, 39%) and to be paid less. Of those who took their first post-MBA job in a business role in a tech-intensive industry, men were more than three times as likely (83%) as women (27%) to say they felt similar to most people at work.

Women in tech-intensive industries were significantly less likely than women in other industries to say that their supervisors clearly showed them how their work would be evaluated (tech-intensive industries, 42%; other industries, 55%). Women in their first post-MBA job were less likely than men to aspire to the senior executive/CEO levels (women, 84%; men, 97%).

Starting men and women at equal levels and pay, evaluating company culture, recruiting senior male executives to sponsor up-and-coming women, making performance standards crystal clear, and providing a flexible work environment are some of the specific steps organisations can take to better attract and retain talented women across both its tech and business sectors, according to the report.