Recap Live Chat: Why Aren't There More Female Scientists, Engineers?

EDUCATION SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY -- April 25, 2012 at 12:45 PM EDT

Recap Live Chat: Why Aren't There More Female Scientists, Engineers?

Updated April 28

This week on the NewsHour, we examined why women lag behind in some areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (also known as STEM). Judy Woodruff also interviewed Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College on the consequences of this persisting gender gap:

Recap a live chat with Judy Woodruff on what can be done to encourage more young women to pursue careers in STEM fields. Tweet your thoughts about the subject and the chat to @NewsHour using the hashtag #WomenInSTEM.

The participants that joined the chat:

Nancy Hopkins, professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author of the groundbreaking Report on Women in Science, an effort aimed at improving gender equity among faculty in the MIT School of Science
Angela Bielefeldt, associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder
Karen Peterson, Principal Investigator for the National Girls Collaborative Project, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to increase the capacity of girl-serving STEM organizations via collaboration with a wide range of organizations, businesses, higher education, and community-based groups
Shree Bose, the 2011 Google Science Fair winner who was recognized for her work on ovarian cancer research

So why don't more women pursue careers in science and engineering? And how can we encourage more young women to join STEM fields? Weigh in with your thoughts below.

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