INSIGHT
While many large tech firms offer benefits like flexible working hours , and in the case of Facebook , $ 4,000 for new mothers and breastfeeding rooms , research by The Atlantic found that it ’ s quite the opposite at plenty of other companies in Silicon Valley , where men outnumber women by seven to three . Workplaces with fewer female employees are less likely to be generous when it comes to paid leave for maternity or to care for other family members .
The US is one of just four countries worldwide where paid maternity leave isn ’ t a right , and it ’ s entirely up to the employer whether they want to offer it .
This creates another key problem causing the shortage : retaining women . Dowling explains : “ In cases of sick family members or aging parents it ’ s generally the woman in the family rather than the man who takes on the responsibility of being the carer . Healthcare and support in the US are extraordinarily expensive . A lot of families cannot afford full time care and are genuinely forced out of the workforce . That ’ s got to change for us to be able to keep women in the work environment .”
It ’ s easy to sit back and harbour the notion that the job is done when it comes to equal rights for women , but as these stats show this is far from the case . “ When we talk about STEM we still have a lot of work to do in terms of basic human rights ,” Dowling says . As we can see , there are practical steps that can make this a reality .
14 August 2017