Women in STEM vs Environmental Performance Index: How Mother Nature Heals.
Does a higher number of women in STEM professions correlate with improved national environmental performance indicators (Environmental Performance Index - EPI)?
This research examines the complex and vital relationship between the growing representation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields and a nation's environmental performance. Globally, nations strive for gender equality and sustainability, yet progress in both areas faces significant challenges. This study examines how increased gender diversity within STEM sectors, which is crucial for developing environmental solutions, may impact national environmental outcomes and sustainability policies. It posits that addressing gender inequality in STEM is not merely a matter of social justice but a strategic imperative for global environmental progress.
Research Design and Methodological Considerations: This quantitative study employed a comparative analysis across diverse nations from 2016 to 2022.
Variables: The Environmental Performance Index (EPI), quantifying a nation's environmental sustainability, served as the dependent variable. The independent variable was defined as the percentage of STEM jobs occupied by women within a given nation.
Data Collection: Data were strategically sourced from reputable institutions, including Yale University, for EPI scores, and from platforms such as LinkedIn, for women's representation in STEM jobs. The details gathered through archival research methods were used to obtain comprehensive national data.
Statistical Analysis: Excel, SPSS, and R were used to execute the computation.
Descriptive Statistics: To summarize key characteristics and distributions.
Regression Analysis: To model the relationship between variables.
Paired T-tests: To assess significant changes within countries over time.
Repeated Measures ANOVA: To evaluate overall differences across multiple countries and time points.
Case Selection: Using a consecutive sampling method, 31 nations from diverse global regions were selected based on their chronological UN entry, facilitating robust cross-national comparison. Challenges included missing data, particularly from regions with data limitations.
Theoretical Foundations and Scholarly Insights: This investigation is grounded in several key theoretical perspectives:
Gender Mainstreaming: Scholarly work (e.g., Arora Jonsson and Sijapati, 2017) suggests that increased female presence in environmental organizations enhances efficiency, innovation, and accuracy, leading to more effective outputs despite initial procedural adjustments.
Ecofeminism: This framework highlights the intersectionality of gender, environmental concerns, and systemic oppression, arguing that addressing social inequalities, including gender disparities, is integral to resolving complex environmental issues.
Impact of Gender Bias: Research (e.g., Moss-Racusin et al., 2018; García-Holgado and García-Peñalvo, 2022) reveals how persistent gender biases hinder women's performance and engagement in STEM, perpetuating the gender gap despite educational advancements. This underscores that societal influences, not just individual choices, drive disparity.
Global Environmental Politics: A nation's environmental approach is shaped by regional priorities and other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Salvia et al., 2019). This raises the question of whether linking gender equality in STEM to environmental progress could elevate its global prioritization, especially given women's tendency to act less opportunistically in leadership (Chasek and Downie, 2020).
Implications & Impact:
This research challenges the simplistic assumption of a direct positive correlation between increased female representation in STEM and improved environmental performance. Instead, it emphasizes a more nuanced interplay, suggesting that while the presence of women in STEM is vital, it is not a standalone panacea for environmental issues. The findings underscore the critical need to:
Address Societal Biases: Proactive measures are essential to dismantle the systemic biases that hinder women's full participation and leadership in STEM.
Promote Equitable STEM Pathways: Policies must bridge the gap between STEM education and employment, ensuring equal access and retention.
Adopt Comprehensive Approaches: For policy, research, and social impact organizations, these insights emphasize the need for multifaceted strategies that consider broader socio-economic, political, and cultural factors, alongside gender equality, for practical environmental sustainability. The research encourages deeper investigation into how diversity can truly catalyze positive environmental change.
Key Findings: The study's findings reveal a complex and nuanced relationship between women in STEM and environmental performance:
Complex Correlation: Regression analysis showed an unexpected negative correlation between changes in female STEM representation and EPI scores. The model suggested that for each unit increase in female representation, there was a predicted decrease of approximately 277.96 units in EPI scores. However, this relationship explained only a modest 12.67% of the variability in EPI scores (R² = 0.1267), indicating that other significant influencing factors are also at play.
Stagnant Representation: Paired t-tests indicated no statistically significant overall change in women's STEM representation across countries during the study period (t-score = -0.0013), suggesting a period of stagnation in gender representation.
Declining Environment: In contrast, t-tests revealed a statistically significant average decrease in EPI scores across the studied nations over time (t-score = -2.14932), highlighting a concerning global trend in environmental performance.
Societal Influences: A comprehensive literature review consistently confirms that persistent gender biases, societal norms, and institutional barriers are key drivers of the STEM gender gap, affecting women's engagement and performance more significantly than individual choices.
Conclusion and Future Directions:
This study supports the hypothesis that a relationship exists between women's representation in STEM and national environmental performance, though the nature of this relationship is more complex than initially expected. It raises critical questions about the effectiveness of current approaches to gender equality and environmental protection, emphasizing the need for more thorough and globally representative studies. Future research should explore the various interacting factors that shape environmental performance, investigate the long-term impacts of societal norms and policy changes on women's representation in STEM fields, and reevaluate how gender equality is framed in policy discussions to advocate for truly inclusive and equitable environmental action.
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