White House Report: More Women Need to Study STEM

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MentorNet bemoans the fact that women go into fields other than their STEM degrees. Did it occur to you maybe we are being discriminated against and are not being hired? I finished the requirements for a MS in computer science in December 2011 and have been looking for work since then. I have had men sarcastically speak to me during phone interviews leading me to believe they only interviewed me to say they were interviewing women. I stood in line at a job fair for L-3 only to have the male representative turn and walk away from me when I reached the head of the line. I approached a second male representative who also turned and walk away. A third male representative exclaimed, "Hey, she is trying to talk to you!" when they finally talked to me. I was at another job fair that when I gave my resume to a male representative and said I just finished a MS in computer science he asked did I want to be a business analyst? I told him no, I wanted to be a software developer like they were advertising for. I have talked with male class mates who didn't know the answers to the technical questions any better than me so it would seem they are no better qualified than me.
What am I suppose to do?

Petra of TX 6:35AM May 02, 2012

I agree with the issue we have with STEM for minorities. But please offer a solution or some direction of how the community can help make a change. I feel their are people willing to help make the change, but need some direction. Any suggestions? We can't go into the universities and demand that the faculty teach to all, not just a select few.

Cheryl of PA 9:45AM April 23, 2012

Women should do this, women should do that... thank you Mr. President for telling us girls how to spend our time! These studies crack me up- tell us what to do, but not HOW to do. Not very effective.

Alison of MT 2:31PM April 19, 2012

As a female T&E teacher I have been discouraged by the low numbers of girls that are encouraged to take my classes on the middle school and high school level - let alone on the college level. In my high school, I actively recruit girls to explore and participate in STEM classes, specifically T&E classes. I would like to see more emphasis in bringing STEM to middle school and high school girls.

Katrina Owens of VA 10:54AM April 13, 2012

This is a very easy problem to solve, if there is real political will to solve it. Offer serious "re-entry" grants for training/education (pay for them by raising the H1 fees by a factor of 20 if necessary) to anyone who has had to take time off for childbearing/childrearing. Something like the National Science Foundation Fellowships, except aimed at women who want to come back to work in the Science/Engineering/Math fields. Let it be competitive (so that it cultivates talented women who have either shown excellence in STEM earlier or another field), and let it have a diverse set of qualified destinations --- University Research Labs [as a part of a graduate program] or even Industrial settings where the employers commit to real (and transferrable) skill development in a STEM field, or even a combination of the two.
So for example, a 35-year-old woman in the Bay Area whose two kids are now 10 and 7 could use two years taking a mixture of undergrad and grad classes (with maybe some research in her last year) at Berkeley to get up to speed in say Networking Software, and then spend another year at Google developing some current industrial experience. With three years of a fellowship, she'd be brought back up to speed and then can compete for a good job in Silicon Valley. The extra taxes she'll pay will likely cover the cost of the program within a decade.
Have a competitive process by which Berkeley and Stanford have to really put together a good program (and be willing to fund it with a part of this re-entry grant system) gathering together Industrial partners, thinking through how much of the program should be online, providing expanded on-site daycare, etc...
If something like this existed, not just in the Bay Area, but in all the major metros with concentrations of STEM jobs, then many more women would feel *confident* in choosing STEM as a career path, knowing that there was a solid re-entry path. Until then, you're asking them to choose a career path whose rapid pace of change demands more constant on-the-job learning and severely penalizes taking time out from the workforce. Talk is cheap.
It is really important for us as a society in the long run to have smart capable women having children. (Is there a more important investment in the future than propagating a good gene pool and providing the next generation with early-childhood enrichment?) So, let's not ask the women to bear all the costs of doing so!

Anonymous of CA 5:41PM April 12, 2012

As a female in STEM I definitely have seen a decline in women peers in my field. I currently work with the National Flight Academy (www.nationalflightacademy.com) in Pensacola, Florida to help educate youth in the math and sciences. Set on a virtual flight carrier, the week long program combines STEM Education and multi-sensory technology (and flight simulators) to inspire and educate participants. I'm really excited about what we're doing here- help us spread the word!

A.Rose of FL 11:00AM April 12, 2012