Stitches and STEM: Knitting’s Relationship to STEM, and Its Role in Encouraging Women’s Pathways Into It

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between knitting and STEM, and its direct impact on women's desires and abilities to enter STEM fields. While prior literature demonstrates a connection between textile crafts and mathematical logic, alongside separate motivations for participating in fiber arts and STEM, a significant gap remains regarding how these two domains correlate and mutually influence one another. Data was collected through a qualitative, phenomenological research framework. Research participants included feminine-presenting individuals actively involved in both local fiber arts communities and STEM-based academia, paired with a formal structural analysis of a specific knitting pattern. Initial results revealed a strong conceptual and community-based connection between knitting and STEM, demonstrating that this intersection actively encourages women's desires and perceived self-efficacy to pursue technical pathways. Consequently, increasing participation in fiber arts could positively shift demographics in technical disciplines. However, these findings are geographically limited to the Global West—specifically the US and UK—reflecting a homogenous socioeconomic and ethnic participant base. Further longitudinal research is required to evaluate the long-term effects of these findings on demographic shifts within both STEM and fiber arts spaces over time.