How Do We Get More Girls Into STEM? Build Confidence (and Robots)

Women make up half of the total U.S. college-educated workforce today but hold only a quarter of the science and engineering jobs. With careers of the future heavily concentrated in STEM fields, it’s unacceptable for women to be left out of the space. Not only do employers need to have the largest possible pool of qualified STEM workers to succeed, business outcomes improve with a diverse workforce. In fact, a recent study found that investors may even prefer companies with more women in the workforce. The Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation, organizer of the world’s largest robotics competition and leader in STEM education, is doing a careful examination of gender diversity. Although many organizations and companies are making strides toward solutions for this society-wide concern, improvements just aren’t coming fast enough.