Women have made remarkable progress in the UK workforce since the passage of the Sex Discrimination Act in 1975. Since that time, the number of female employees has never been higher. In fact, over 70 percent of women in the UK have jobs, which is only slightly lower than the number of gainfully employed men — 78 percent. However, there are three specific industries where women have failed to make much progress over the last thirty-five years. Of the five and a half million people who are employed in the science, technology and engineering industries, just twelve percent of them are women. Why are the numbers so low? Well, it depends on who you ask. Many feminist groups contend that these fields have long had a bias against women. Unlike in Transport, female workers in the aforementioned industries often find it difficult to get their foot in the door. But whether this is because of prejudice or a general lack of interest is difficult to say. When asked, many male scientists claim that women are simply not as interested in science as their male counterparts. But in the end, we believe that the answer to why women do not enter these fields is somewhere in between the two extremes. After all, careers in each of these industries are some of the most lucrative in the UK. And regardless of sex, everyone likes to make money. But unfortunately, studies have shown that many girls buy into these chauvinistic stereotypes and come to believe that they cannot compete with the boys. And as a result, most of them choose to work in other fields.
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