UNESCO released a report Thursday that claimed girls “are steered away from studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics” as a result of social media usage.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization used data issued by Meta that found 32% of its female teenage users felt worse about their bodies after using Instagram. Another 15% reported that they were cyberbullied, about twice the rate among male teenage users.
“All these factors create a feedback loop: in which girls are exposed to negative gender norms that are amplified by social media, are steered away from studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects that are considered male-oriented fields, and are deprived of the opportunity to shape the very tools that expose them to these stereotypes,” UNESCO’s press release reads.
Per UNESCO, 35% of STEM graduates worldwide are women, and 25% go on to hold jobs in those fields. A quarter of artificial intelligence jobs go to women, and a smaller 15% of engineering jobs, too. Women file 17% of global patents.
“Social media platforms shape and are shaped by existing social inequalities, with some algorithms magnifying negative gender norms and practices in schools, with an impact on children’s well-being,” the report reads. “The addictive design of TikTok, characterized by short, engaging videos, can lead to excessive screen time, distracting students from academic responsibilities and extracurricular activities. The platform’s instant gratification model may also affect attention spans and learning habits, making sustained concentration on educational tasks more challenging.”
This comes as the organization is halfway to its goal to “eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable” by 2030.
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It also comes just as TikTok, along with its algorithm, is currently owned by China-based ByteDance. The House passed a bill over the weekend that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok in order for the social media platform to be hosted by app stores in the United States.
The National Science Foundation, under President Joe Biden’s administration, also gave $2 million to help five universities bring DEI efforts into sectors of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
