We’ve come a long way regarding gender disparities over the last century. Today, women account for about 50% of the workforce and more than half of awarded bachelor’s degrees. However, there is one area where this gender gap will not close – engineering.

Roughly 30% of STEM careers are occupied by women, and out of those, women only make up 15% of the engineering field. 

This problem is not for a lack of want. In fact, studies show that girls and boys start out with an equal level of interest in STEM. However, girls’ interest begins to decline around middle school, when they strive to fit into more of the “gender norms” where they believe girls can’t be smart and that only boys can do STEM.