I’m starting to wonder how much of the feeling that girls can’t do science, tech, engineering or math is coming from statements like Barb Marquer’s below? It is time to start getting these comments better documented. I don’t think that girls don’t feel they can do STEM – I think they are already interested but don’t feel that girls belong in STEM. This is the perception we have to change… From the ASEE aggregator:

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle (4/20) reported on Wyoming’s STARBASE Academy which “is focused on getting girls interested in science and technology.” The project aims to keep girls interested in the STEM fields, according to program Director Barb Marquer, who added: “A lot of times, girls don’t feel like they can do things in science, technology, engineering and math because the boys overshadow them.” The group is open to girls from fifth through 12th grade and the article covers the group’s science night last weekend, which combined creativity with opportunities to expand their technical knowledge

From the ASEE aggregator:
The Washington Post (2/13, Mcgregor) reports that a new report from the Center for Talent Innovation finds that, in addition to the difficulty getting “more young women into science and high-tech fields,” keeping women in those jobs, “and helping them reach the top,” may be “even a bigger challenge.” The study found that US women in these fields are “45 percent more likely than their male peers to leave the industry within a year.” In addition, the study found that “nearly one-third of senior leaders — both men and women — who work in science, engineering and technology fields reported that a woman would never reach the top position in their companies.”

From the ASEE aggregator:
The New Orleans Times-Picayune (2/14, Larino) reports that with growing worldwide energy demand creating the need “for a larger and more diverse energy industry workforce,” the number of women in key industry roles is rising. With veteran workers retiring and fewer young workers entering the field, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that 46% of new jobs in the sector “went to women during the first quarter of 2013, the highest level in years.” Debbie Settoon, a 30-year veteran of the oil and gas industry, is currently a project engineer for Shell. Settoon said she has seen more female engineers entering the energy “industry and filling management positions.” The article notes that energy companies have donated to the Society of Women Engineers and similar groups with the goal of increasing the number of women entering STEM careers.