If you’ve ever tripped over a charging cable, cursed your laptop, and then remembered you’re living in the most technologically advanced era of human history, welcome to the club. But here’s the twist – while STEM has evolved at breakneck speed, the diversity of those steering this ship still looks more “Dad’s tech club 1998” than a representative slice of modern society.

Despite decades of effort, women and non-binary folks in STEM still find themselves navigating glass labs, leaky pipelines, and the occasional patronising “You’re pretty good… for a girl” or better “You don’t look like you work in IT”. Let’s crack this open, shall we?

 

1. Stats: The Same Old Equation?

Let’s get the un-fun facts out of the way.

©️ Society of Women Engineers. Global STEM Workforce. SWE Research, 2023

According to the 2023 Global Gender Gap Report, women make up just 29.2% of the STEM workforce across 146 countries. By comparison, women represent nearly 50% of non-STEM occupations. Even more sobering? Women hold just 12.4% of C-suite roles in STEM, despite accounting for nearly 30% of senior positions. The pipeline isn’t just leaky – it’s practically gushing. And the stats for non-binary individuals are even more elusive – largely because most institutions don’t bother counting. Which is, let’s be honest, part of the problem.

Europe, however, offers a more optimistic snapshot: in 2022, 41% of scientists and engineers in the EU were women, with countries like Denmark, Lithuania and Bulgaria nearing gender parity. But before we break out the champagne, others – Germany, Finland, Hungary – lag behind with female representation hovering around 31–34%.

 

©️ Eurostat. 41% of People Employed as Scientists and Engineers Are Women. European Commission, 12 February 2024

 

In short: STEM has made progress, but not enough. And if we want tomorrow’s tech to work for everyone, we need everyone at the table – or rather, the lab bench.

Implication #1: the industry is quite literally handicapping its own future by not being inclusive. What these numbers mean is that you’re not tapping into the full pool of human potential. That’s not just a social issue; it’s an economic one. Diverse teams have been proven to be more innovative, better at solving complex problems, and more financially successful (check out our previous article). So fewer women and non-binary people in STEM = fewer breakthrough ideas, slower progress, and more blind spots in products and research.

Implication #2: the cycle continues – low representation leads to low confidence and fewer role models, which in turn leads to lower recruitment and retention. If underrepresentation goes unaddressed, it perpetuates the myth that STEM is naturally a “male” field. Young girls and non-binary youth look around and don’t see themselves reflected in tech, labs, or boardrooms – and that invisibility is discouraging. It contributes to the leaky pipeline problem, where even those who do enter STEM often leave due to lack of support or hostile environments.

 

©️ Society of Women Engineers. Global STEM Workforce. SWE Research, 2023

 

Implication #3: non-binary people are excluded from both the narrative and the solutions – meaning they continue to face unique, unaddressed barriers.The absence of reliable data on non-binary people in STEM is particularly troubling. If you’re not being counted, you’re not being considered – in decisions about funding, programme design, workplace policy, or even bathroom infrastructure. It’s like trying to fix a system you’re refusing to even measure (Define-Measure-Analyse-Improve-Control: where my 6 Sigma folks are at?😉).

 

2. Stories: a Road of a Thousand Steps Always Starts With One

Let’s take a look at those who have managed to get their foot in the STEM door and are now rooting for their own people.

©️The Female Lead. Jess Wade: We Rise by Lifting Others. The Female Lead, 2022

Take Dr. Jess Wade, for example – a British physicist and unstoppable force for change. Based at Imperial College London, Jess works full-time as a lecturer and research fellow in the Faculty of Engineering, teaching undergraduates about nanomaterials and investigating new materials that could be used to make more sustainable electronic devices – you know, in her spare time, when she’s not rewriting the way the internet remembers scientists.

In 2018, after attending a conference where a speaker mentioned the stark underrepresentation of women on Wikipedia, Jess decided to do something about it. That night, she went home and wrote her first biography. One entry turned into a daily ritual – and now she’s written over 2,000 biographies of women and other underrepresented scientists missing from the world’s largest encyclopedia. Her motivation? Simple but sharp:

“Science has so many huge open challenges and we need really diverse teams working to solve them and improve public trust.”

In the interview to Guardian’s Nicola Davis, Wade said that her impact goes far beyond her keyboard. Jess also does outreach in schools to make science feel more accessible, organises conferences to help marginalised researchers network and get noticed, and sits on committees actively working to improve diversity in STEM. While many people think and tweet about inequality in science, Jess actually does something about it.

And she doesn’t mince words: the reason women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds are so underrepresented in senior STEM positions, she says, is not a matter of talent – “It’s because they’re not put forward for them, or because they don’t have the confidence to go for them. It’s not because they’re not brilliant.” The real issue? “So much of science is about your privilege.” And that’s not just bad for equity – it’s bad for the planet.

Jess is keenly aware that one award, one fellowship, one “honourable mention” can open doors to many others. “It’s like, if you’re going to get a gold medal, you have to have a silver medal – and probably a bronze.” Unfortunately, the system tends to reward those who already have access, funding, and status – leaving many deserving scientists out in the cold. “There are exceptional scientists all over the UK who don’t have the support network around them to realise they’re exceptional.”

So what sparked all this? Surprisingly, not some personal injustice or life-altering moment. “I’ve had a very privileged upbringing,” Jess says. The daughter of two doctors, she grew up in leafy north London and attended a private girls’ school. “I’m not an idiot – I knew racism and sexism existed. But I didn’t think young people in the UK faced barriers studying subjects.” Then she arrived at university and the reality hit her in the face. “Everyone was ferociously bright, but very privileged. Physics was extraordinarily white and extraordinarily dominated by men.” With just 20% women in her year and one Black student out of 250, Jess saw just how alienating the landscape could be. And when she looked at the faculty?

“Almost no one who looked like me.”

It’s not just about filling quotas. It’s about shaping a scientific community that feels like a place where everyone belongs – and that’s exactly what Jess Wade is building, one article, one classroom, one conversation at a time.

 

©️ Jones, Willa. Angelica Ross Says FX Contract Cost Her a Marvel Role. Them, 2023

Then there’s Angelica Ross – actress, entrepreneur, activist, and walking masterclass in self-made resilience. Before dazzling acting in Pose and The American Horror Story: 1984 or making political waves, Angelica was a kid from Kenosha, Wisconsin, growing up “in what we’d call the hood.” Her mother was a teacher, her stepfather runs a factory where he’s worked for 35 years.

Angelica’s path was never easy. She told Out Magazine that after coming out as transgender, she faced job loss, housing instability, and relentless rejection. She enlisted in the U.S. Navy in the late ’90s, hoping to fund college, but under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, she experienced threats and harassment that forced her to leave after six months. For a while, she bounced between gigs – one of which was as a web manager, where she began to teach herself coding, graphic design, and photo editing. Tech became a lifeline.

In 2013, while working at Chicago House’s TransLife Care Program, she proposed a tech training initiative for trans jobseekers – but was told it would “go over people’s heads.” Angelica saw red. “I thought the nonprofit was taking trans people for granted,” she later said. So she did what she always does: quit, build, and believe bigger. The result? TransTech Social Enterprises, launched in 2014 – a space to empower, educate, and employ LGBTQ+ people through tech. What started with free Zoom workshops, Skype chats with trans icons like Laverne Cox and Geena Rocero, and Angelica herself sleeping in the office and showering at Planet Fitness, has grown into a 10-year-old organisation with real weight. Through partnerships with Google, the Linux Foundation, and MasterClass, TransTech now offers certifications, career prep, and – most crucially – access.

But funding wasn’t easy. Angelica didn’t take a salary for years. Not even after a 2015 White House speaking gig, which brought visibility, but – as she put it – “visibility that magnifies and burns you up in it.” Only when she brought on E.C. Pizarro III as Executive Director did the organisation gain stability. Her Grow With Google programme, which started as pandemic-era goal-setting sessions, is now a cornerstone of their work.

Today, Angelica is preparing for a political run in Georgia, launching a new online community called Winner Circle, and even hinting at upcoming acting projects. But she’s also clear-eyed about the personal toll of her journey.

“What I did was to believe that the little bit of privilege I had – my possibility, my beauty, my intelligence, my education – I had that to wager. I bet on myself, and I think I won, but it came at an extreme cost.”

Angelica Ross didn’t just teach herself to code – she hacked the entire system. And she did it so others wouldn’t have to start from zero like she did.

 

3. Mentorship, Sponsorship & the Power of Not Being Alone

Let’s be real: not everyone’s got someone like Jess or Angelica in their lives helping climb the STEM career ladder. Without guidance, it is like trying to assemble IKEA furniture blindfolded – possible, but unnecessarily painful.

That’s where mentorship and sponsorship come in. No, they’re not the same thing (we know, it’s confusing). Mentors give advice; sponsors put your name forward for the promotion while you’re still figuring out if your camera is on mute. Both individuals above highlighted the role privilege plays in career and life: luckily for us, in this day and age, it can be something that is created through mentorship and sponsorship, not just something you’re born with.

Programmes like #IAmRemarkable by Google and Million Women Mentors are helping women and non-binary people find their champions. But the real magic? When those relationships aren’t formalised in some corporate workshop, but formed in communities that genuinely get it.

©️ Lathrop, Lindsey. #IamRemarkable Exercises: How to Celebrate Your Achievements Without Cringing. LindseyLathrop.com, 2023.

 

#IamRemarkable, a Google-born movement launched in 2016 by Anna Vainer and 💻Laurie Barth, originally was an internal workshop that tackled a widespread issue: women and minority professionals often struggle with self-promotion due to deep-rooted social conditioning. The format is simple but effective – participants reflect on and share what makes them remarkable, learning to talk about their accomplishments without shame or apology. What began as a small idea has since grown into a global movement, reaching over 600,000 participants in 170+ countries, with support from 4,000+ facilitators and translations in 40+ languages. The impact is felt in boardrooms, classrooms, and communities worldwide. At WeSTEM+, we embrace the same ethos: confidence is not arrogance, and visibility is power. When people know how to speak about their value, they’re far more likely to be heard, hired, and promoted. We’re proud to say that we’ve hosted several #IamRemarkable workshops right here, in Luxembourg, facilitated by our dear collaborator, Anastasia Nazare (She/ Her).

 

©️ Hollywood on the Potomac. Million Women Mentors: Moving the Needle for Women and Girls in STEM. Hollywood on the Potomac, 2023

If you’re looking for proof that mentorship can move mountains, look no further than Million Women Mentors. Launched in 2014 by STEMconnector, MWM was built on a simple but game-changing idea: if we want more girls and women to pursue and stay in STEM careers, we need to match them with mentors – at scale. The goal was audacious from the start: one million mentorship relationships. But this wasn’t just about ticking boxes; it was about building long-term, impactful connections that help mentees navigate everything from career choices to confidence wobbles. MWM partners with corporations, nonprofits, government bodies, and schools to create structured, supported mentorship ecosystems. Fast forward to today, and over 3 million mentoring relationships have been pledged globally. That’s right – triple the original goal. The movement continues to grow, supported by state chapters, corporate coalitions, and an emphasis on mentoring women of colour, non-binary individuals, and others who’ve historically been left out of the STEM conversation.

It’s not just mentorship – it’s a structural shift. Because when someone’s got your back, you’re far more likely to stay in the game – and to win.

 

Final Thoughts: STEM Needs a Makeover – And You Can Help

Let’s be honest: the current state of diversity in STEM is not just unjust, it’s inefficient. Diverse teams solve problems faster, make better products, and – yes – turn bigger profits.

The truth is, innovation doesn’t happen in echo chambers. It happens when different perspectives collide and co-create. And if we want the tech of the future to reflect the world we live in, not just the people who’ve historically dominated it – we need to invest in inclusion now.

So whether you’re a company looking to make an impact, a policymaker seeking grassroots allies, or someone who’s simply tired of seeing the same four faces at every STEM conference – get involved. Sponsor a scholarship. Fund a podcast episode. Share our posts.

Let’s stop waiting for change to trickle down from the top. Let’s build it from the lab bench up.

 

Credits:

1. Society of Women Engineers. Global STEM Workforce. SWE Research, 2023. https://swe.org/research/2023/global-stem-workforce
2. Eurostat. 41% of People Employed as Scientists and Engineers Are Women. European Commission, 12 February 2024. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20240212-1
3. The Female Lead. Jess Wade: We Rise by Lifting Others. The Female Lead, 2022. https://www.thefemalelead.com/post/jess-wade-we-rise-by-lifting-others
4. Davis, Nicola. ‘Why Are They Not on Wikipedia?’ – Dr Jess Wade’s Mission for Recognition for Unsung Scientists. The Guardian, 1 October 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/oct/01/why-are-they-not-on-wikipedia-dr-jess-wades-mission-for-recognition-for-unsung-scientists
5. Duffy, Clare. How Angelica Ross Is Using Tech to Build a Better World for Trans People. TIME Magazine, 2023. https://time.com/collection/closers/6564908/angelica-ross-tech
6. Carter, Terry. Angelica Ross Reflects on Her Journey, from Tech to TV to Trans Advocacy. BuzzFeed News, 2023. https://www.buzzfeed.com/terrycarter/angelica-ross-black-history-month-interview
7. Vargas, Shanté. Angelica Ross Wants Trans People to Thrive in Tech. Out Magazine, 2023. https://www.out.com/out-exclusives/angelica-ross-transtech-social-enterprises
8. I Am Remarkable. Our Story. RMRKBLTY, Google Initiative. https://www.rmrkblty.org/iamremarkable/our-story
9. STEMconnector. About Us – Million Women Mentors. MWM, STEMconnector, 2024. https://mwm.stemconnector.com/about-us/

©️ Julia Khalyavko (She/Her)