Latin America STEM gender gap leaves women underrepresented in tech

A UNDP report finds that while 41 % of STEM graduates in Latin America and the Caribbean are women, only about 30 % work in the region’s information‑technology and communications sector. Representation varies widely, with women making up 42 % of ICT employees in Guyana but only 22 % in Argentina. Those who obtain jobs are disproportionately concentrated in health‑care services, accounting for more than 70 % of such positions, compared with a global average of 28 % in science and engineering.

At the University of the Andes in Colombia, professor Carola Hernández and her interdisciplinary team contributed a chapter to the commemorative book *Ecos de Equidad*, proposing collaborative classroom work as a practical tool to transform gender relations in engineering education. Their effort highlights how pedagogical strategies are being explored alongside policy research to address the systemic gaps identified by the UNDP study.

Both initiatives underscore ongoing attempts across the region to close the gender divide in STEM fields, from university curricula to labour‑market interventions.