Despite the enormous gains women have made in many professional fields, there is still a noticeable gender gap when it comes to science and energy. The lack of women in these science and math-based positions is detrimental to society at large. Gender and ethnic diversity is fundamental to American competitiveness -- and without it, the U.S. may never see the full-scale clean energy revolution we so desperately need.
There are a handful of examined reasons why the gender gap continues to persist. One is the pronounced lack of encouragement from an early age to explore natural sciences, engineering, programming etc. The instilled expectation that girls won't succeed in these areas leads to predictable, and disappointing results. According to US News, in 2013, Mississippi, Wyoming, and Montana saw not a single female student take the AP Computer Science test. Similar disparities hold true for AP Physics and Calculus tests -- and girls are left unprepared or uninspired for fast-paced college science courses.
The inequalities that emerge from high school hold constant once in college, with women under-indexing in degrees in math and science fields, especially advanced degrees. One astonishing statistic holds that of 100 female bachelor students, only 12 graduate with a STEM major, but only 3 continue to work in STEM fields 10 years after graduation.
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