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Retaining Women in STEM Careers : Graduate Students as the Building Blocks of Change

Discussing parasites over dinner requires particular company – like the “Parasite Ladies,” our circle of six female graduate students. Since discovering our mutual interest in disease ecology, we have supported each other’s research endeavors during weekly dinners. While we plan to sustain our support through lifelong research careers, current trends predict that 2 of the 6 of us will leave science. Although women in the U.S. now earn half of STEM doctorates, they represent 21% of full professors in science and 5% in engineering 1 . Outside of faculty positions, women comprise only 25% of the STEM workforce 2 . In the window between starting graduate school and applying for senior-level positions, the U.S. is losing women from STEM fields. Retaining and advancing women in STEM fields is a serious challenge with consequences for technical innovation, economic growth, and the status of the U.S. as a global leader in STEM disciplines 3 .