The Indianapolis Star – Arika Herron
Over the past several decades, women have made gains in some STEM fields. According to data from the national Bureau of Labor Statistics, female participation in the medical and life sciences fields is about equal to that of men, with many women becoming doctors, nurses, medical researchers and more. Female participation in other STEM fields, though, remains persistently low. Women continue to make up just one-quarter of the workforce in computer and mathematical occupations and fill only 14 percent of jobs in architecture and engineering fields, according to that same data. Paul Ainslie is managing director of the I-STEM Resource Network, a partnership of public and private higher education institutions, K-12 schools, businesses and government, hosted by Purdue University. He said the problem is an 80-20 one in most STEM fields, where female participation hovers around 20 percent.”(more)