Women in STEM - Data Analysis
Once on campus, women gravitated towards STEM majors. By 1925, three out of eighteen women (16.67%) in the Senior class majored in STEM with one student in science and two in math. The two years with the highest STEM enrollment were in 1934 and 1947. In 1934, ten out of thirty-eight Senior women majored in STEM (26.32%) with 4 in science and 4 in math. In 1947, nine out of thirty-six (25%) of Senior women majored in STEM with two in science, one in biology, three in chemistry, and three in math. The years with the lowest portion of women who majored in STEM were 1937 and 1943. In 1937, one woman out of 37 majored in STEM (2.70%); she majored in mathematics. In 1943, no senior women majored in STEM. There is no data available for 1931, 1933, and 1941.
Until 1939, science and mathematics were the only two courses that women majored in within STEM. These two majors are some of the oldest at Hope and contained broad possibilities depending on the resources of the school at the time. If there were more resources, then there were more classes and disciplines available for students to study in. Mathematics still remains a popular major at Hope though general science majors were less common after 1947. In general, science and mathematics were the most popular STEM courses for all students at Hope from 1925-1950 even after new departments were created, though men also majored in chemistry, physics, and pre-medical.
Chemistry was first listed as a student’s major in the 1936 Milestone and the major soon increased in popularity. The first time that women majored in chemistry was in 1945 when two out of nine women in STEM majored in chemistry. Chemistry was consistently chosen by a few (one to three) women each year until 1950 when no women majored in it. Similarly, biology was first listed as a student’s major in the 1939 Milestone and the major grew exponentially in the years after. A significant proportion of women in STEM majored in biology that year. Three out of the seven female students in STEM majored in biology which is 42.90%. For every year after that, at least one woman majored in STEM with 1943 as the exception.
The pre-medical track was offered in 1925 as individual courses, but female students first picked it as a major in 1938. Two out of six women in STEM took a pre-medical course in 1938. Pre-Medical majors were less frequent for women than men. This is reflected in the data because only one other woman was a pre-medical major from 1925-1950; she was a senior in 1945. According to the 1945 course catalog, the four-year pre-medical curriculum had been available to “pre-medical students at Hope College for some time” and was designed to meet the most “rigid requirements of medical schools.” [1]
In 1945, nursing was available for the first time to students. Our data would only have accounted for two cohorts of Seniors (1949 and 1950) that could have majored in it because the only data on majors available was from Seniors. Regardless, no Senior women were recorded as having majored in nursing in 1949 or 1950. Similarly, pre-forestry and pre-dental tracks were offered for the first time in 1945 and no women were recorded as having majored in either during the scope of this project [2].
Two glaring omissions are the “T” and “E” in STEM - technology and engineering. Technology, mostly comprised of computer science and information technology majors, is a fairly recent field and career path. Therefore, no women within the scope of our project majored in technology. Engineering was offered during our study, though not until 1942, and no women majored in engineering during the duration of our study [3]. Other common majors that would fall under the STEM umbrella term are geology, physics, algebra, geometry, and statistics. Physics is the only course that was offered during this time period and no women majored in it. The other disciplines were not available to Hope students to major in.
References:
[1] 1944-1945. V83.01. February Bulletin. (Holland: Hope College, 1945), 39, http://digitalcommons.hope.edu/catalogs/112.
[2] 1944-1945. V83.01. February Bulletin., 35.
[3] 1941-1942. V80.01. February Bulletin. (Holland: Hope College, 1941), 55, https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/catalogs/109.
