Ralph Hall: “According to the National Science Foundation, a recent study of fourth graders showed that 66 percent of the girls and…”

“According to the National Science Foundation, a recent study of fourth graders showed that 66 percent of the girls and 68 percent of boys reported that they liked science. But something else starts happening in the elementary school. NSF found that by the eighth grade, boys are twice as interested in STEM careers as girls are. The female attrition continues through high school, college, and even the workforce. Women with STEM higher education degrees are twice as likely to leave a scientific or engineering job as men with comparable STEM degrees. Despite the fact that women earn half of the bachelors degrees in science and engineering, they continue to be significantly underrepresented at the faculty level in almost all the S&E fields, constituting 28 percent in 2003 of doctoral science and engineering faculty in 4-year colleges and universities and only 18 percent of full professors.”