One Step Forward, One Step Back?

National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow Haider Ali Bhatti, Ph.D., offered some good news this fall when he reported that the United States exceeded its target for graduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) between 2012 and 2022. Analyzing data from the National Center for Education Statistics and other sources, Dr. Bhatti found that the U.S. registered 4.65 million STEM graduates over the decade, 16% more than the 4 million goal established in 2012 by the Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, established by former President Barack Obama. 

The analysis even included some encouraging news for women specifically. The share of science and engineering associate’s degrees earned by women rose from 43% to 49%, and the share of bachelor’s degrees remained steady at roughly 50%. 

Dr. Bhatti, a science education specialist in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at University of California, Santa Cruz, undertook the research in part to demonstrate the importance of higher education at a time when the public is rethinking its value, and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are being dismantled. But in a press release announcing the findings, he acknowledged that “degree counts alone are insufficient; we must also ask whether graduates are succeeding in the jobs of today and tomorrow.” 

In other words, what happens to all these graduates after college? Do they remain in their chosen fields and thrive? 

For women, the answer is unclear. Several articles in this issue address this topic. In her news article, SWE Contributor Meredith Holmes reports on findings from the McKinsey Global Institute that women’s career progress is often thwarted at the very first rung on the corporate ladder. The researchers found that for every 100 men promoted to their first managerial level, just 81 women are promoted, with just 65 Latina women and 54 Black women earning promotions. And so much depends on this initial step. Missed opportunities accumulate, leading to women having less “experience capital,” or workplace knowledge and wisdom. With less of that capital, opportunities for growth and lifetime earnings decrease.

Women now face another potential barrier to retention and success: return-to-office (RTO) mandates. In her article “A Closer Look at the Data,” SWE Research Manager Rebeca Petean, Ph.D., analyzed U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data to show that since January 2025, women’s employment overall has dropped. This matches the time period when the federal government mandated RTO, and many government contractors and high-tech companies followed. Approximately 212,000 women aged 20 and older have left the U.S. workforce since the beginning of the year, while 44,000 men entered it. 

Women’s participation in telework has stabilized, the data show. But the gender pay gap is widening. 

This is no surprise to the experts interviewed by SWE Communications Specialist Ruksana Hussain for her feature article on the impact of RTO policies on women. The experts — and the data — indicate women who choose to work from home or even in a hybrid situation may lose opportunities for informal mentoring, work recognition, promotions, and pay increases.

It feels like a catch-22. Return to the office with its long commute, reduced flexibility, and other negative impacts, or risk losing the chance to move forward in your chosen field. Women can take steps to increase their visibility and opportunities in the workplace regardless of where they work, and employers can add flexibility to RTO requirements if they choose. But as is so often the case, most of the extra effort seems to fall squarely on women.