On Women’s Equality Day, women in STEM lead the way

WASHINGTON - When Sgt. 1st Class Elena Bryan graduated from her Oxford, Ohio, high school more than a decade ago, she was not sure what she would do next.

"I came to graduation and didn't know what I wanted in life, didn't know where I wanted to be, didn't really like school."

The chance to enlist in the Army was attractive.

When she met a recruiter, she was immediately drawn to the Multiple Launch Rocket System crewmember specialty.

The recruiter said the 13M Military Occupational Specialty had been open to women for less than a year at that time. "He was like, 'I think you would be really good at this.' He showed me the video of what they did, and I said, 'Yep, that's what I'll do,'" Bryan said.

Bryan, 29, is now a platoon sergeant at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, one of many women excelling in an MOS that focuses heavily on science, technology, engineering and mathematical skills. She is working on her bachelor's degree and plans to carry her STEM knowledge forward into a civilian job after earning her Army retirement in 10 or more years. She intends to be a middle school science teacher after the Army, she said.

Bryan's plans exemplify the findings of a research study that shows female veterans are more likely to work in STEM careers than civilian women, and in some cases, female veterans are entering STEM fields at rates higher than their male counterparts.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the study suggests that military service provides a route for women to attain STEM careers.

According to a separate 2023 National Science Foundation report, median wages are higher for those working in STEM than in non-STEM occupations, regardless of sex, race, ethnicity or disability status.

The findings are welcome news on Women's Equality Day, the August 26 commemoration of the date when the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified.

Though earmarked to celebrate the day when women won the right to vote in the United States, it has come to be a time for celebration of women's equality and opportunity.

"Military service is associated with STEM occupations in positive and surprising ways. Veterans are more likely than their civilian counterparts to work in STEM, an effect particularly strong for women and among workers without a STEM bachelor's degree," said University of Alabama in Huntsville sociologist Christina Steidl, who helped lead the research into female veterans working in STEM.

The study was conducted by Steidl, University of Nebraska-Lincoln sociology professor Regina Werum, and others, using five years of data from the American Community Survey, which is an ongoing survey of the United States Census Bureau.

"We found that there was a huge correlation between military service and STEM degree earning versus non-STEM degree earning," Steidl said.

Veterans lacking any college degree are also more likely than their non-veteran counterparts to hold STEM employment, she said.

Steidl and Werum considered whether military service provides overall benefits to career trajectories for women. Additionally, they researched whether general military training might encourage pursuit of STEM careers, as the G.I. Bill offers veterans the opportunity to pursue time-intensive degrees.

Steidl said one theory for the number of female veterans going into STEM is that they gain hands-on experience in the field that translates directly into STEM civilian employment.

"But it also could be about mentorship and … social connections," she said.

In that theory, women who have served in the military are members of a wide network of like-minded people who are supportive of each other.

Similarly, female veterans may be better at navigating in the perceived boys club atmosphere of STEM workplaces, she said.

Some STEM jobs associated with military service attract a higher rate of female veterans than either civilian or veteran males, she said.

"That's not to say that female veterans have closed the gap. There are still gender disparities in STEM fields, but the difference between women who have served in the military and civilian women who have never served is much greater than the difference between men who have served in the military and civilian men who have never served," Steidl said.

Enlisted personnel are responsible for some of the most technical and advanced work performed with weapon systems in the Army, said Col. Lourdes Costas, commander of the 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade at Fort Sill.

The work those Soldiers do in high-tempo units cannot be matched by someone with just a college degree, Costas said. In fact, someone coming out of college with a degree in engineering "couldn't get on a Patriot [Surface to Air Missile] radar and troubleshoot it the way that a specialist with one year in the Army who's been in system maintenance can do," she said.

"Our branch, the things that we do, translate very nicely into the civilian world," she added.

Bryan says she was good at science and math in high school, but they were not her best subjects. However, she credits Ms. Torak, her best teacher, who sat her down and always helped her understand everything.

That underpinning helped with Army artillery training, which offered a new cause to excel in math and science, she said.

Bryan was the first female field artillery instructor at the Fires Center of Excellence at Fort Sill, and now some members of her platoon are Soldiers she taught in Advanced Individual Training. She says all the members of her platoon work in STEM fields, whether they are drivers, gunners, or the section chief.

Of the 21 people in her platoon, two are female, Bryan said.

"I wish there were more, but I'm glad I have two. I'm glad I can help, too."

Bryan thinks her willingness to mentor her Soldiers means they have a better opportunity to excel. "I can't wait to see any of my Soldiers get to where I'm at," she said.

Costas points out that the Army brought women into air artillery jobs decades ago.

She noted the success of retired Maj. Gen. Heidi Brown, who was the first woman to command an air defense battalion, the first to command an air defense artillery brigade in the Army, and in 2003, the first woman to command a brigade in combat.

"We've had many, many female brigade commanders who were very successful, and a lot of them don't necessarily have a STEM degree. But we definitely work in a STEM branch," Costas said.

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