In the STEM fields, conquering post-secondary education is also vastly different from conquering a career. College and university programs teach guidelines, problem solving, and time management, but they do not always prepare us for the working world and are not always the best indicator for how well we will do once we .

When we start our careers, we are being paid to achieve results. Multimillion-dollar projects can ultimately fail because of our workmanship. The pressures facing young females entering the STEM workforce are humbling and extremely trying. Without much warning, these pressures can lead to high levels of dissatisfaction.

PCWorld: It's obvious why these challenges are a problem for women, but why are they also a problem for the fields themselves? Why would IT, for example, benefit from the involvement of more women?

Purcell: Many jobs within the STEM fields focus on designing products and materials that aim to advance our experiences and allow us to live safer lives. Therefore, it is critical to have a strong female presence to ensure that products and materials are developed to benefit both genders. Without the involvement of women in these fields, product designers may easily overlook needs that are specific to women.

Examples of this are evident in the design of past products. For instance, when voice recognition was first becoming popular, the systems were calibrated to recognize male voices because only males were designing the products. Because of this, womens voices were unrecognized when they tried to use the various systems.