Negative gender stereotypes on social media pushes girls into a “feedback loop” that keeps them from accessing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), a new report has found.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) released its 2024 Gender Report titled Technology on Her Terms, exposing the significant risk social media poses to girls’ well-being, learning and career choices.
The report highlights how in some cases, digital technologies can enhance teaching and learning, but it can also compound risks of invasion of privacy, distraction from learning and cyberbullying.
UNESCO’s report also looks at the design of platforms such as Instagram and TikTok that produce algorithm-driven, image-based and instant-gratification content for users. This can expose girls to material that glorifies unhealthy behvaiours and unrealistic body standards, which affects their mental health, well-being and ultimately their education.
According to research from Facebook cited in the report, 32 per cent of teenage girls said when they have negative thoughts about their body image, Instagram makes them feel worse.
The problem also extends to how young people interact with each other online. Data on cyberbullying in OECD countries cited by UNESCO shows on average, 12 per cent of 15 year old girls have been cyberbullied, as have 8 per cent of 15 year old boys.
Audrey Azoulay, the Director-General of UNESCO, said greater ethical regulation of social media platforms is vital in protecting young people, especially young girls.
“Children’s social lives are increasingly playing out on social media. But all too often, algorithm-driven platforms amplify exposure to negative gender norms,” Azoulay said.
“Ethical considerations must be taken into account in the design of these platforms. Social media should not confine women and girls to roles that limit their educational and career aspirations.”
The feedback loop
Beyond self-esteem, body image and relationships with other young people, UNESCO’s report found social media can also impact young girls’ career choices.
The report refers to a “feedback loop” that can trap girls into consuming and ultimately believing gender stereotypes that social media perpetuates.
This negative, gendered content, the report found, essentially keeps women and girls from pursuing a career in STEM, which limits representation in the industry that builds the platforms that exposed them to these stereotypes in the first place.
According to data from UNESCO, just 35 per cent of tertiary STEM graduates around the world are women. This figure has remained unchanged for a decade.
Less than 25 per cent of STEM jobs are held by women, UNESCO reports. In the world’s leading economies, women constitute just 26 per cent of employees in data and AI, 15 per cent in engineering and 12 per cent in cloud computing.
Despite 68 per cent of countries having policies supporting education in STEM, only half are specifically supporting women and girls.