Report: Female students have aptitude, but not the interest in STEM careers

According to new research from American Fork-based learning technology company YouScience, female middle and high school students have a high aptitude fit with, but low interest in, STEM careers, such as technology, manufacturing and architecture, among others. The findings are reported in the firm’s 2023 “Female Student and STEM Career Exposure Gap Report.”

The report is based on nationwide data gathered from the test results of more than 225,000 female middle and high school students who completed the “Aptitude & Career Discovery” assessment from YouScience Brightpath in 2022.

The study found that female students have more than 11 times the aptitude for advanced manufacturing careers than interest. It also said they have eight times more aptitude than interest for computers and technology careers, four times more aptitude than interest for agriculture and natural resources careers and nearly three time more aptitude for architecture and construction careers than interest.

Additionally, the report found that female students have greater interest than aptitude for careers in human services, law and public safety, teaching and arts and media.

Pluralsight said these insights confirm that a career exposure gap exists for female students, especially in STEM — an area in which jobs are expected to increase by almost 11 percent by 2031. Historically, however, women have held less than one-third of those jobs. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were approximately 10 million workers in STEM occupations as of 2019, but only 27 percent of those were women.

“There is no question that more and more of our nation’s jobs over the course of the next several years will be in STEM. However, there is a very important question we must ask about who will fill those jobs given that the career exposure gap remains among female students today,” said Jeri Larsen, chief operating officer at YouScience. “To address this gap, ensure the pipeline of STEM jobs can be filled in the coming years and provide female students with the same opportunities as their male counterparts, we must first show them that they have extraordinary potential. We need to do so as early as middle school and then help guide them to pursue the pathways to the careers they are best suited for, in STEM or elsewhere.”

From the “Aptitude & Career Discovery” assessment, YouScience analyzed the data, comparing students’ self-reported interests with their aptitude and then grouped the results by high-fit careers based on the 16 standard career clusters defined in the National Career Clusters Framework in the Career Technical Education (CTE) program. To determine high-fit clusters for each student, YouScience ranked each student’s top three clusters from a fit perspective, using either aptitude or interest measurements.