A subjective examination of implicit root stereotypes of STEM disciplines

Abstract

This paper addresses the concept of genderization of disciplines – in particular the disciplines of STEM (viz., Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) – and, the need to de-genderize the STEM disciplines. Two examples, namely Physics and Software Engineering have been taken up for further genderization classification. It is found that various phases of both Physics and Software Engineering exhibit dominantly feminine genderizations – leading to the inference that these two disciplines are well suited to females. These observations presented in this paper would be useful in addressing issues that arise in increasing the participation of women in the STEM disciplines and other related areas.