In the last June, my niece Aditi, 17, completed her intermediate with flying colors and I went to her home to congratulate her. She was really excited with her performance and was planning to get admission in her favorite college. I talked to her and asked that in which course she wants to get admission. She told that she is interested in studying criminology which is quite new and exciting field and has much more promising than others. I was really happy that she is really quite bright and wants to do something new and exciting. But, at the same time, her mother asked that what is the term “criminology”? Aditi told her about it, but her mother said,” Why don’t you go for any simple subjects which are available in colleges easily and chances of having a safe job?”

I tried to convince her that she must allow Aditi to follow what she wants, as she is interested in this subject and it is really quite promising and new field. But she was quite resistant and repeatedly told me that Aditi would not find a decent job and would have to face many challenges as well. She wanted only a safe option like completing her studies and go for a simple job which is much better because in a scientific field she would have to compete with boys and there is hardly any female candidate there.

I could understand her emotions as there are many myth and misconceptions about Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) which are completely bogus and baseless, but still, people believe in them and many girls like Aditi are fighting for their stand even before going to study such subjects. Such misconceptions are the hurdle which we need to remove from women’s path and let them be the winner.

There are following misconceptions which you can find people arguing on whenever there is a talk on women and science-

Myth 1. Science is tough for women.

This single word is the basis of all the fight. People always think that science is tough for women because they are not smart enough and only men can handle such pressure of hardcore science. No doubt, this sentence has a smell of male chauvinism in it. Many female scientists have contributed a lot to the science and there is a great progress in women’s involvement in science-based subjects. If science is considered tough for women, so it is also for men too, but do men stop them from studying science? No. So we should not stop women from studying hard sciences.

As per studies men and women both have the same kind of IQ level without any gender bias, so telling women that they are not eligible to study science is totally baseless.

Myth 2. Girls are lesser interested in studying science-

Every year whenever we read about how much students got admissions in IITs we learn that there are not more than a handful of girls are in it. Even 10% involvement is considered a great number of girls. So we think that girls are naturally reluctant to study STEM subjects and they like to go for arts and commerce field. But it is our fault that we have made it a tradition that science is for boys and simple subjects are for girls.

Myth 3. Women are not good in STEM field-

In STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) it is general tendency that girls do not perform well because of lack of interest or pressure which they cannot sustain. I would say that we do not promote girls in the right manner as we do with boys in such fields. There is a clear example of Madam Curie who had discovered Radium. She used to work with her husband shoulder to shoulder and was awarded noble prize twice, first in 1903 along with her husband Mr. Pierre curie and after that in 1911 in chemistry.

That was more than 100 years ago and still we think that women are not good in science.

Myth 4. Being successful in science is impossible-

I would say being successful in not impossible but getting equality is quite harder. To become really successful in science you have to go to a doctorate in your study field and many female scholars don’t go for a doctorate and drop their study after completing their masters, whereas, male scholars are more likely to complete their doctorates and continue their research. It enables them to accomplish success at a better rate than their women counterparts.

Myth 5. Impossible to maintain work-life balance-

It is already hard for working women to make a balance in real life and work and if you are working in hard science then it becomes almost impossible to make a perfect balance. But there are great examples which involve many successful women who are a great mother too. For ex, Sunita Williams is a well-known astronaut who has spent many days in space but she was in a constant touch with her family and used to take care of her kids as well.

Myth 6. Boys are better in science-

Again it is a clear misconception which has placed in our minds that only boys are good in hard sciences and girls lack their interest or naturally they are not fit for studying sciences.

I would say that it the parent’s fault that they do not encourage their kids in the same way. Many times I have seen promoting only boys to go for hard sciences or engineering fields, because these jobs are highest paying jobs and boys are considered are bread earners for the family, whereas girls are considered to remain in the home, so they are encouraged to get simpler subjects. If we could change such stereotypes in our society then we can expect to see many happy changes as well.

Myth 7. Challenges of motherhood-        

It is a general thinking that if any woman wants to go for hard sciences in her field of study or job and after some time if she goes for her motherhood duties then it becomes impossible for her to start again. Because in the meantime so many changes would have occurred in her absence and there is no option but to struggle.            

These myths have stopped many girls for going to harder science and make their mark. It is our duty to promote girls to go for science-based subject in higher studies and touch skies.