Women's representation and persistence in STEM undergraduate studies

Katherine Wall at Statistics Canada conducted a study on women's representation and persistence in STEM undergraduate studies.  It is interesting to note that although women make up approximately 44% of the overall STEM undergraduate student body, only 19% of engineering and engineering technology students are female.  Additionally, the author notes that women's underrepresentation in STEM is mostly related to the majors chosen by men and women upon initial enrolment into undergraduate studies, and their subsequent career paths, rather than as a result of switching majors once enrolled in post-secondary studies.  Although further study is required, this would imply that the difference in engineering representation between genders begins much earlier than perhaps anticipated, highlighting an important reason why PEO Lambton Chapter continues to offer and support many education outreach activities for students at various levels of schooling.

The Statistics Canada report can be found in full here: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2019001/article/00006-eng.htm