While job opportunities in STEM are on the rise, women and girls still face barriers to STEM education and jobs due to various factors. Gender norms in many societies result in women and girls being expected to put home and family ahead of education and career.

Women are less likely to earn degrees in technology, engineering or physics. Even when women earn STEM degrees, their career choices and advances can be limited by obstacles they encounter in the workplace, including difficulties getting promoted, high-profile assignments, training opportunities, and informal networks. Although Europe and Central Asia tends to have a higher share of women in STEM fields than other regions, the number of women in leadership positions remains disproportionately small.

We cannot afford to keep girls, women, their voices and their leadership out of STEM.