Yet more than seven decades later, women\u2019s participation in STEM \u2013 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics \u2013 remains alarmingly low in South Asia. In Bangladesh, women make up only 14 percent of all STEM professionals, and just 19 percent of girls are pursuing STEM fields, according to a World Bank study.<\/span><\/p>\n But is the gender gap in STEM truly this wide? I wonder, is this disparity a reflection of ability \u2013 or mere opportunity?”<\/span><\/p>\n Due to my father\u2019s military service I attended seven different schools in Bangladesh \u2013 across cities, villages, even hill regions. Everywhere I went, I saw girls engaging with science, math, and social studies just as confidently as boys. When results were published I found them snatching top positions and marks based on their merit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So if university admissions are based on those same academic performances, why aren\u2019t women represented equally in STEM? Where, then, do we lose them?<\/span><\/p>\n The gap is deeply rooted in our perception that – girls are not made for science. The South Asian mindset barely allows girls to dominate and shed their talent in any field be it science or other. While we talk about social science or business, society can easily restrict women. How so?\u00a0 While pursuing higher education, a student has to go to events, seminars, interns which engages both in person and virtual presence. Conservative families can easily jeopardize a girl saying, \u201c If you go out now, what would society say?\u201d And there a dream is gone and girls start lagging behind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I have a friend currently pursuing a BSc in Architecture at the best engineering university in the country \u2013 BUET. While talking to me, she expressed her concern. An architecture student has to stay most nights out in their studio. A Deshi family would barely allow that, and she said she\u2019s also concerned about what might happen after she marries. But in the same situation, her counterpart \u2013 a boy from BUET \u2013 is not only attending the studio at night freely but also going to places with friends, hanging out after dark. So isn\u2019t the mental health of an \u201carchi\u201d student falling short just because she\u2019s a SHE?<\/span><\/p>\n Education is a powerful tool that gives mankind vision and freedom. History may remember Jane Hawking primarily as the supportive wife of Stephen Hawking. Yet, in her memoir, she wrote, \u201cLiving here in Cambridge, you had to have an identity. It was not enough to be a wife.\u201d When she completed her PhD, she found a true sense of existence. While Stephen was a brilliant scientist, Jane was more than just a wife \u2013 she was a teacher, a mother, and a scholar of medieval Spanish poetry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The hypocritical tone of the Deshi mindset becomes blatant when girls try to pursue something for themselves. Society still expects a woman to be recognized by her husband\u2019s worth. And what good would a \u201cSTEM Girl\u201d bring, they ask, if she\u2019s eventually to become a \u201c STAY Girl\u201d – just a housewife?<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n I wonder how we have the audacity to ask a girl, \u201cWhat\u2019s the point of working \u2013 doesn\u2019t your husband earn enough?\u201d I believe that only when we start valuing girls as individual human beings, not extensions of someone else, will we see true equality across all fields\u2013 from STEM to beyond.<\/span><\/p>\n The problem is visible \u2013 girls make up half of our population and we are missing one of the wings in the STEM field. In the world of advancement where technology dominates, could we afford to fly without that wing?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Discrimination, injustice, and dominance toward women have slowed our progress for decades. Yet, I believe we still have time to address and make key changes in our policies. Through policy reform and awareness, we can spark radical change. Inclusivity can be curated at a young age through group activities, competitions, and hands-on exposure. We can introduce STEM olympiads focused on girls like the European Girls Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO). Law enforcement should protect female students not just on campuses, but on the roads they walk to get there. Universities can launch pre-college programs for girls to introduce the magnificent domain of science. Parents should also make a girl feel inclusive to STEM and provide necessary support.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It is really up to us. In a region where half of the girls remain shackled by the deadly chains of early marriage, we must ask ourselves \u2013 do we rewrite terms like \u201cschool dropout\u201d and \u201ceducational discontinuation\u201d? Or do we too wear the churi, bind our own hands, and stay silent?<\/span><\/p>\n All we need is an \u201cI can\u201d \u2014 one that eventually becomes \u201cWe did.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n And if we have the courage to raise our voices, only then can we expect our girls to fly \u2014 on their angelic wings \u2014 beyond the sky, into space, solving equations, and shading hope toward a better future.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Struggle for Equality in South Asian Girl\u2019s Education The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 26 declared […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sazid.bcc.edu.bd\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot-2025-07-06-120556-300x271.png\")