Why there is few women succeeding in STEM科技領域：陽盛陰衰之探尋

武兵

難詞掃障

1.stereotype n. 陳規舊習;老一套;刻板印象

2.norm n. 規范;標準;準則

原文復現

Nowadays there are few females working in the STEM （STEM means science， technology， engineering and maths）， compared with males. According to a survey， despite making up half of the workforce， women only account for 14.4% of all people working in STEM.

Many different reasons are stated for why this may be the case： girls are less likely to study STEM subjects such as physics， chemistry， and maths at school， or continue them at university. Some researchers believe that girls receive

gender-based prejudice from childhood previously， leading them to mistakenly believe that boys are naturally better at STEM subjects for some inborn ability although there is no evidence that men are biologically better at certain subjects than women.

Another reason is that women still face some gendered norms in STEM， such as some social limitations that we place upon girls in adolescence and even they carry throughout their adult lives： aim high， but not too high; be successful， but never show off; avoid disagreement or handle challenging situations by trying to please people， rather than finding your own path. These ideas may prevent some women from achieving their full potential in STEM careers.

Above all， many girls themselves may continue to regard the industry with narrow stereotypes. “There has been the idea that a career in STEM means you're either a white coat-wearing laboratory scientist， an engineer in overalls and a hard hat， or a slightly strange academic professor，” Ursula Heng of P&G's beauty delivery engineering division says， “But there are many instances of engineers and scientists working in completely different environments on a range of applications that affect every aspect of our lives： digitization （數字化）， weather patterns， or transport systems. They are very important， and extremely relevant！”

Hence， how do girls break the myth that STEM careers are only for the boys？ First， challenge the false expectation that boys are simply better at STEM. “Be receptive to new possibilities and break through stereotypes，” urges Heng. “If you defeat and remove gendered prejudice， you will exploit（發揮） your talent and find a new world.” Then， develop the confidence in your ability to have true leadership in STEM. That's the key to success. Most of all， be more strategic and decisive， holding your own opinion in more challenging situations.

Thankfully， things are changing. One recent study found that more women have entered Stem in the past 40 years than any other field. There are part of women with flourishing（蒸蒸日上的） science and technology careers， but further work needs to be done to help encourage these women to work in the industry and to make this become a norm rather than an exception. It's of vital importance to break through the stereotypes and to develop the next generation of female STEM talent.

——From The Guardian

Part 1 整體感知

本文是一篇議論文，主要說明了為什么從事科技領域相關職業的女性占比很少。據調查，盡管女性占勞動力總數的一半，但從事科技領域的女性僅占14.4%。有三個主要原因可以解釋這一狀況：第一，大部分女性從小時候起就內化了這種男性有學習理科的天賦，且比女性更加擅長的性別偏見;第二，女性需要長期面對一些固有的社會觀念的束縛;第三，有些女性自己本身就對科技領域相關職業有著刻板的印象。因此，女性要打破這種刻板認識，戰勝性別偏見，勇于追求自己的職業理想。雖然和以前相比，現在已經有很多女性從事科技領域相關行業，但要真正實現性別平等，培養女性的才能，還需要繼續努力。

篇章結構梳理：

Part 2 語言學習

寫作句型積累

1.According to a survey， despite making up half of the workforce， women only account for 14.4% of all people working in STEM.根據一項調查，盡管婦女占勞動力的一半，但在科技領域工作的所有人員中，婦女只占14.4%。

2.Many different reasons are stated for why this may be the case.本文對為何會出現這種情況，提出了許多不同的理由。

3.Another reason is that women still face some gendered norms in STEM， such as some social limitations that we place upon girls in adolescence and even they carry throughout their adult lives.另一個原因是，女性仍面對著一些科技領域的性別“規則”，如我們在女孩的青年時期就在她們身上強加社會束縛，這貫穿了她們成年后的生活。

4.First， challenge the false expectation that boys are simply better at STEM.首先，挑戰一個錯誤的預判，即男孩們在科技領域的表現更好。

5.Then， develop the confidence in your ability to have true leadership in STEM. That's the key to success.然后，培養你的自信，使你在科技領域有真正的領導能力。這是成功的關鍵。

6.Most of all， be more strategic and decisive， holding your own opinion in more challenging situations.最重要的是，在更具挑戰性的情況下，保持自己的觀點，更具戰略性和決斷性。

7.It's of vital importance to break through the stereotypes and to develop the next generation of female STEM talent.突破刻板印象，培養下一代女性科技領域的才能是至關重要的。

Part 3 讀后思考

What are the advantages if more girls can get involved in the STEM careers？