I saw this infographic earlier today on Women 2.0 and thought it was worth sharing in it’s entirety. Girls perform better in math and science classes (specifically in high school), but at the same time they begin to question their capability and whether or not they belong in highly technical fields. The number of women in specific fields are much smaller than men, and even 80% of with technical degrees don’t actually practice in a related field.
I didn’t take any time to look at the sources of this information, and I would expect there is also a drop off of men with math/science degrees who don’t work in the field, because they’ve moved on to something more financially lucritive or more in line with how their passion/interest changes over time. When I see the sub-10% engineering fields of women, I’m not surprised at the lack of options for technical women who want to remain engaged professional while raising a family