The Leadership Lab for Women in STEM is designed to provide research-based, actionable solutions for your organization’s female employees in STEM professions. Since 2004, Weatherhead’s Organizational Behavior department has engaged in research on the retention of women in the STEM professions, beginning with a focus on STEM faculty and broadening to include the larger population in industry and government.

For organizations in the private, public and education sectors alike, there are enormous costs associated with women leaving the STEM professions that add to the costs of recruiting and attracting professionals. Numerous studies by Deloitte, Ernst & Young, the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology and the London School of Business, among others, demonstrate the business case for including women in an organization’s leadership and involving them with innovation. Yet despite the obvious value that women provide, they remain underrepresented in STEM fields.

• According to many studies, women leave the workforce—especially the STEM professions—at higher rates than men.
• In 2012 women comprised 47% of the labor force and 52% of professional and managerial workers, but 45% of scientists, 25% of mathematicians, 22% of technology workers and 10% of engineers (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012).
• Women with STEM degrees are less likely to work in a STEM occupation than their male colleagues (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2011).
• A 2012 report from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology predicts a deficit of one million STEM workers in the U.S. by 2022. The report calls for increasing the number of women graduating with STEM degrees.

Although organizations exist that promote the retention of women in academic STEM professions, none currently focus on their retention in industry and government. And no one institution has integrated the most updated research into an educational program targeted at STEM women—until now.

Invest in retaining your valuable employees with a one-of-a-kind educational opportunity: the Leadership Lab for Women in STEM.

We can adapt this program specifically for your organization, and it can be delivered on our campus or yours. Email customprograms@case.edu to learn more.

Further reading:

• Bilimoria, D., & Liang, X. (2011). Gender Equity in Science and Engineering: Advancing Change in Higher Education. Taylor & Francis.
• Bilimoria, D., Joy, S., & Liang, X. (2008). Breaking Barriers and Creating Inclusiveness: Lessons of Organizational Transformation to Advance Women Faculty in Academic Science and Engineering. Human Resource Management<, 47(3), 423-441.
• Buse, K., Bilimoria, D., & Perelli, S. (2013). Why They Stay: Women Persisting in the Engineering Profession. Career Development International, 18(2).
• Frehill, L. (2008, Winter). Why do Women Leave the Engineering Work Force? SWE Magazine of the Society of Women Engineers, 54(1), 24-26.
• Hewlett, S. A., & Luce, C. B. (2005, March). Off-Ramps and On-Ramps. Harvard Business Review, 43-54.
• Hewlett, S. A., Luce, C. B., Servon, L. J., Sherbin, L., Shiller, P., Sosnovich, E., & Sumberg, K. (2008). The Athena Factor: Reversing the Brain Drain in Science, Engineering, and Technology. Cambridge: Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation.
• Hopkins, M. M., & Bilimoria, D. (2008). Social and Emotional Competencies Predicting Success for Male and Female Executives. Journal of Management Development, 27, 13-35.
• Hopkins, M. M., O'Neill, D., Passarelli, A., & Bilimoria, D. (2008). Women's Leadership Development: Strategic Practices for Women and Organizations. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 60(4), 348-365.
• Mainiero, L., & Sullivan, S. E. (2005). Kaleidoscope Careers: An Alternative Explanation for the Opt-Out Revolution. The Academy of Management Executive, 19(1), 106-125.
• O'Neill, D., & Bilimoria, D. (2005). Women's Career Development Phases Idealism, Endurance, and Reinvention. Career Development International, 10(3), 168-189.