The Status of Women in STEM in Higher Education in the United States during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Literature Review 2020-2022

ABSTRACT

This study seeks to answer the question: What effects did COVID-19 have on the status of women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in higher education in the United States? It presents a thematic review of the current literature regarding the social and professional impacts of the pandemic on this group from 2020 to 2022. The research briefly examines the challenges women in STEM faced pre-pandemic and then explores the repercussions of the pandemic to date. It reviews the literature published from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to present day. Recommendations for STEM librarians serving this population are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• higher education
• pandemic
• STEM
• United States

Acknowledgments

This manuscript was written with Research Leave provided by George Mason University Libraries, which was built on Indigenous Homelands of the Manahoac People.

The author acknowledges that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted people of all ages, genders, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, social classes, religious groups, and abilities worldwide. In this manuscript, the term “women” is understood to broadly include all individuals who identify as women including, but not limited to, cisgender women, transgender women, and nonbinary women. “Woman” refers to a person’s gender, whereas “female” refers to a person’s sex. Gender iqss a nonbinary social construct, whereas sex is primarily considered a biological trait.

This manuscript is dedicated to the members of the University of Nebraska at Omaha WiSTEM Pro² organization who inspired the initial research and inspired the author every day.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).