Women’s participation in technology occupations must be encouraged and promoted by academics, businesses and industry. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, women currently occupy about half the jobs in the US economy, but hold less than 25 percent of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) jobs. The report finds that women are underrepresented both in STEM jobs and STEM undergraduate degrees and have been consistently over the last decade. This is noteworthy, granting that women in STEM jobs earn 33% more than those in nonSTEM jobs. 

Women’s participation in college graduation increased during the last decade, but not in STEM related degrees. According to NSF (National Science Foundation), the percentage of women in computer science dropped from over 35% in mid-1980s to about 18% in 2010. The decline of women’s participation in technology fields must be addressed as part of services to community, society, businesses, industry and specifically our female students. There are many steps that could be taken in improving this lack of participation, starting with learning about issues and concerns of women in workplace at all the employment steps from the time they are hired to promotions, interactions and inclusion in a male dominated workplace. This presentation attempts to address these issues along with the recent corrective actions taken by academics, businesses and industry to mitigate the problem.