Accelerating momentum for women and girls in science

!- Start of DoubleClick Floodlight Tag: Please do not remove Activity name of this tag: UCB001CP Retargeting URL of the webpage where the tag is expected to be placed: http://unknown This tag must be placed between the. Participation by women in scientific research is rising - women now outnumber men majoring in biological sciences and the percentage of women awarded doctoral degrees in life sciences grew from 15 percent in 1969 to 52 percent in 2009. Yet women's participation in other STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math) still lags; fewer than 20 percent of undergraduate majors in computer science and engineering are women, and as they rise through the ranks, disparities persist. Women are still underrepresented in faculty positions, female engineers publish in more prestigious journals but their work is cited less frequently , and editorial boards for journals in STEM fields remain overwhelmingly male. Looking beyond academia to consider broader social impact, indicators of unequal participation are worrisome. As women enter the workforce, we see even more differentiation by field , with women comprising 34 percent of environmental engineers but only 8 percent of mechanical engineers. Gender imbalances in the technology industry and financial sector are widely recognized.