(Glasgow)
(Con):...However, today’s debate also shines
a light on where change is still needed. Although I have used the
example of university places to highlight progress, it remains the
case that some individual subjects are dominated by either women or
men. In the United Kingdom, the number of women studying a science,
technology, engineering, or mathematics degree is just 24 per cent
of the total; and, in 2017, only 15 per cent of engineering
graduates were women, compared with 30 percent
in India. More concerning is the fact
that the proportion of young women studying engineering and physics
has remained virtually static since 2012, and in some areas, such
as computing degree programmes, the numbers are
falling...
(Lothian)
(Green):...In India, too, there is a long history of endemic
discrimination and violence. As Vicky Allan wrote in an
award-winning article in The
Herald in 2015,
“Being conceived as a girl in India ... puts you at risk of foeticide,
infanticide, neglect, abandonment, bride burning, wife-torturing,
dowry killing, and domestic violence.”
In short, in many parts of that
country, girls are not wanted...
(Ettrick, Roxburgh and
Berwickshire) (Con):...I congratulate the
Scottish Government on its work on STEM and support it in that.
However, we have to look at the statistics, and the cabinet
secretary knows that, of those studying STEM degrees, only 24 per
cent are women. In computer science, the growth in the number of
female graduates is far behind the growth in the number of male
graduates, at 3.1 per cent versus 9 per cent. highlighted the stark
statistic that, in the UK, just 15.1 per cent of engineering
undergraduates are women, whereas the figure is 30 per cent
in India. Perhaps we should look at
international models. Empowering women and girls through
education is certainly one way in which we can help to improve
that statistic on female participation...
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