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More on Women and STEM

By Richard Whitmire — July 01, 2010 1 min read
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Good piece in Newsweek on boosting the number of women pursuing STEM studies and careers -- a goal that rises in importance as women continue to dominate colleges and universities.

The debate about this is fascinating, and I don’t pretend to have any solutions. After following this issue for several years, however, I remain wary of any legislative solutions. That’s why the lede anecdote bothers me: I just don’t buy into the argument from feminists that a massive conspiracy led by sexist STEM professors is at fault.

That aside, the need for action is clear, and I agree with this statement from the AAUW (how rare is that?). This is about economic competitiveness:

Because getting more American women involved in STEM fields isn't just good for "equality," it's also important to keeping America competitive in terms of technology and innovation. "Having an adequately prepared STEM workforce is about homeland security and national defense, green economy and high-tech jobs that would be here on American soil," says the AAUW's Lisa Maatz, "Frankly, right now we have a pipeline that's incredibly leaky."

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