The number of women entering STEM roles is declining in spite of pursuing education in the field, according to new LinkedIn data.

According to the data, the percentage of women in STEM drops by 18% on average between graduation and employment in the UK.

The graduating class of 2022 experienced a drop off of women in STEM from university to careers of 18.2% compared to 19.3% of the class of 2017.

This 18% average has been relatively consistent since 2017, despite a flurry of initiatives to support women and girls in STEM over the last half decade, such as the multi-million pound ‘Gender Balance in Computing’ research project.

Ngaire Moyes, UK Country Manager at LinkedIn, says: “Unfortunately, the latest numbers on female representation within STEM careers will surprise exactly no one. However, what is surprising – and concerning – is the 18% drop-off we are seeing between the number of women who achieve a STEM degree, and those entering the workforce into a STEM role.”

Globally, the data revealed that the UK is among the highest drop-offs between graduation and entering the workforce, but generally on par with other European countries.

For instance, the French drop off is 24%, with a 22% drop in Germany.

Conversely, in Italy, where this is a less significant gender disparity within STEM careers, the drop-off is just 7% on average.

The data – which comes as graduates across the country prepare to enter the workforce – reiterates the challenges women face in converting their STEM degree into a full, life-long career.

A lack of representation is an oft-cited obstacle for women to enter STEM fields, especially in director and c-suite levels.

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Chika Njoku, Junior Project Manager at Mace Group. BEng Mechanical Engineering 2020, related her experience: “During my degree, I was one of very few women and Black people in my cohort and unfortunately, I often felt like my intellect and opinions were disregarded or downplayed because of this. This was one of the more challenging parts of my degree.

“Now, I work as a project manager in construction and the sector is very male dominated. I have had to learn how to be more assertive and dominant to effectively do my job; I’m proud to say most of this comes down to personal and professional growth, but sometimes you just have to fake it till you make it.”

While women account for 40.7% of leaders at the director level in non-STEM roles, this drops to just 27.7% in STEM industries.

At the VP level, the numbers drop to 13.4% for STEM roles, versus 24.1% for non-stem roles.

Further, women account for only 15.1% of C-suite roles within STEM careers, but this figure only rises to 28.7% in all other roles.

In addition to a lack of representation in organisations, a percieved skills gap was also revealed.

Men were twice as likely to list a STEM skill than women on LinkedIn – only 13.7% of women listed a STEM skill, versus 30.5% of men on the website.

While women are pursuing STEM in education, there appears to be a disconnect to getting into the industry, which women in STEM agree is on the onus of companies.

Issues in education can be “exacerbated” by the industry for women and non-binary people, Pam McGee of STEM Women said. “It’s essential that STEM employers design inclusive recruitment practices, put support structures in place throughout women’s career journeys and highlight representative role models within their businesses.”

Amy Heineike, VP of Engineering at 7bridges, said it was important for companies to think outside the box from traditional CVs and expected skills.

“Anecdotally, I’ve observed that many of those women had followed slightly “non-traditional” career paths – for example coming to engineering via computational sciences,” she said.

“They found niches that were interesting and welcoming to them along their journey and we benefited from the skills they brought. I believe that for many difficult and important STEM challenges, we need to bring a wide range of skills and perspectives together to make progress, and teams that include people from different paths are stronger as a result.”