Women more empowered to pursue career aspirations in developed countries

Fascinating study across 80 countries that both confirms a finding from many previous studies (more boys than girls aspire to a things-oriented or STEM occupation and more girls than boys to a people-oriented occupation) and has an important counterintuitive finding:

Women’s empowerment is associated with relatively high levels of national wealth and this wealth allows more students to aspire to occupations they are intrinsically interested in.

Possible implication? Perhaps we should spend more time celebrating the fact that women in wealthy nations are able to pursue their passions and less time bemoaning the fact they’re underrepresented in STEM fields? The latter, it would seem, is a good thing if, as this study finds, most would rather be pursuing other interests. In developing countries, this study suggests, many women in STEM fields would rather not be there but are out of necessity.

Interestingly, interest in STEM declines for both boys and girls the more developed a country becomes:

In fact, the problem for STEM is even more profound, given that interest in STEM declines for both boys and girls in more developed, innovative, and gender equal nations.