International Women's Day (March 8, 2025) is an opportunity to build support for women's rights and take action to address barriers to gender equality. The day, rooted in the struggles of women suffragists and labor activists in the U.S. and Europe, grew into a "rallying point" for activists globally in the 1970s. The day celebrates women's achievements and serves as a platform to educate the public and mobilize for change on intersectional barriers to women's rights and gender justice.  

This year's theme, “For All Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.”, highlights the urgency of pushing forward for progress, including “bridging the gender gap in accessing and shaping technology”. Women and girls globally do not have equal access to and are confronted with multiple and overlapping barriers to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning experiences, education, and careers.   

Supporting women and girls along their educational and career pathways to participate in STEM learning and professions is critical to investing in and accelerating progress to foster gender-equitable systems globally.  

Too often, initiatives to foster equity in STEM within the U.S. remain US-centric, disconnected from global efforts for gender equity, sustainable development, and digital literacy and access. This year, more than ever, in honor of International Women's Day, the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) is raising awareness of multiple barriers to STEM learning, digital skills, and STEM professions that women and girls face globally.    

Across more than 120 countries surveyed by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), women represent only 35% of students enrolled in STEM-related disciplines. Women hold only 22% of STEM jobs in G201 countries and earn 85% or less of what men are paid.2 

In the workforce, a gender divide persists, as women are highly represented in fields associated with health (medicine, chemistry, and biology) and are highly underrepresented in mathematics and engineering fields, reinforcing gender stereotypes that falsely associate femininity with caregiving and masculinity with math and science. In technology, women constitute only 22% of those working in AI, and women remain underrepresented in technical and leadership roles at technology companies. Women are involved in 23% of all international patent applications, representing only 13% of all inventors listed. 

These gender differences are not a reflection of abilities but are the product of a complex web of inequities that have differential and nuanced local and global impacts across countries and regions. Stereotypes about who belongs and is successful in STEM, gender biases in learning materials and teaching practices, gendered messages and expectations from parents/caregivers, peers, the media and popular culture, and lack of access to retable role models or mentors hinder and often exclude girls and women's participation and access to STEM education and career pathways. For girls of color and girls with a lower socio-economic status, gender, race, ethnicity, and class work in complex and overlapping ways to create compounding barriers to STEM learning, access to resources, and belonging.  

The barriers do not stop when women enter and work in STEM careers, instead, they are often confronted with various forms of bias, discrimination, and harassment. The Gender Scan 2021 survey found that 40% of women studying STEM disciplines reported to be the target of sexist behavior, and almost half of women in STEM fields reported experiencing sexism at work.3 According to UNESCO, “they [women in STEM fields] are more likely to be the target of gender-based violence and sexism than women in other fields”. Male-dominated workplace cultures in technology and many STEM-related industries that perpetuate stereotypes, and other discriminatory practices hinder retention in STEM fields and prevent many women from accessing these fields. See the Expert Meeting Group report from the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67).   

Beyond formal education, a global gender gap in digital skills, meaningful connectivity, and internet access persists, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Women are 25% less likely than men to have the "basic knowledge" to access digital technology, and many women do not have affordable access and a supportive social environment to use the internet, impacting their ability to pursue education, book health appointments, and other public services.   

The intersection of gender with other forms of inequity, including class, citizenship status, and disability, creates compounding barriers to technology access and digital skills. For example, girls from low socioeconomic backgrounds have less access to STEM activities and support from parents/families, migrant and refugee women, and girls are severely impacted by barriers to Internet access and SIM cards, and girls and women with disabilities are frequently underestimated for their skills, stigmatized, and face barriers related to accessibility in the workplace.  

Striving for gender equity in STEM fields is not only for the benefit of individual women and their economic mobility but is critical for infusing diverse representation into fields that are central to innovation and advancement and to addressing interconnected crises related to our environment and livelihoods, including by shifting towards green and care economies.