The report highlights that it is essential to invest more in education, notably in media and information literacy, and to better regulate digital platforms, in line with the UNESCO principles for governance digital platforms published in November 2023.
Negative gender stereotypes impact girls’ aspirations in STEM fields
All of these elements form a vicious cycle: girls face negative gender stereotypes, amplified by social media, which distract them from the study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), disciplines considered to be reserved for men, thus depriving them of the opportunity to contribute to the design of the tools that generate these stereotypes.
According to UNESCO data, across the world, women represent only 35% of STEM graduates in higher education, a figure that has not changed over the last 10 years. The report shows that persistent bias deters women from pursuing careers in STEM, resulting in an absence of women in the tech world.
Women occupy less than 25% of positions in the fields of science, engineering, information and communication technologies. They represent only 26% of the workforce in disciplines linked to data and artificial intelligence, 15% in engineering and 12% in the field of “cloud computing” within the main world economies. Only 17% of patent applications are filed by women globally.
According to the report, digital transformation is primarily driven by men. Although 68% of countries have implemented policies supporting education in STEM disciplines, only half of these policies specifically support girls and women. Policy measures should seek to promote role models of success, including on social media, to encourage the career path of young women in STEM disciplines. This approach is essential to ensure that women participate, on an equal footing, in the digital transformation of our societies and in the design of technologies that are truly inclusive.
