The entire narrative stinks, we need a better one backed by actual data.
Look at the graph, women in STEM falls closer to 1986, when Reagan passed the immigration reform act.
Doesn’t it seem suspicious that Reagan immigration reform landed right on top of this decline?
I do agree that the standard explanation of “men are mean and took women’s jobs” is correct, but I don’t think people are willing to take it one step further and say: “Why did men suddenly become mean when they were egalitarian before?”
With Reagan immigration reform: Chinese, South American and Indian immigrants, especially eldest sons who are expected to support their entire extended families back home, were more free to enter the county and picked high paying engineering fields and pushed out competition (Americans) not willing to spend 18 hours per day studying math and science. This remains true to this day where 80% of masters degrees go to immigrants.
These immigrants would mostly be men because these cultures are male dominated, at least at the time.
The explanation that men suddenly became “mean” in the 1980s and drove women out fails for the same reason that your argument about women’s biology couldn’t have changed either. An influx of meaner men would explain what happened perfectly.
If you open the flood gates to people with different cultural values (especially male dominance), women are going to get pushed out.
My frustration is Liberals in general will refuse to see this part of the argument and instead go with: “white men became mean in the 80’s.”