Gender disparity in the workplace is apparent across most every field. It's no secret that female representation is especially lacking in leadership roles and jobs related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). However, a new study has a promising solution for keeping more women in the STEM field: woman-to-woman mentorship. Two researchers, Tara C. Dennehya and Nilanjana Dasguptaa, studied 150 freshmen women studying engineering. (The lack of women, even among STEM fields, particularly standing out in engineering.) To gauge the impact of women role models, students were either assigned male mentors, female mentor, or no mentor. If assigned one, students met with their mentors once a month.

NASA announced its first class of astronaut candidates since 2013 on Wednesday. The twelve candidates from various backgrounds and fields of study met some pretty rigorous requirements and made it to the top of the pool of 18,300 applicants, a record number for NASA. Among them is one black woman: Jessica Watkins.

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is known for driving hard when executing his single-minded focus and getting what he wants. As billionaire Mark Cuban told The New York Times in a recent profile of Kalanick, ''Travi's biggest strength is that he will run through a wall to accomplish his goals.'' So, why is Uber's record of diversity hiring so low? Women hold just 22% of leadership roles at Uber and white people hold 77% of such roles at the company, according to Uber's diversity report, which was released in March.

The National Center for Women & Information Tech 2017 Summit focused this year, as always, on increasing diversity in computing. ''This one-of-a-kind summit is an invaluable setting for change leaders to have a candid, effective dialogue about practical ways to make change for women in tech,'' NCWIT co-founder and CEO Lucy Sanders tells GoodCall. ''These conversations aren't empty promises; these conversations lead to sustainable change for the society at large.'' In addition to workshops, the variety of speakers at the recent summit, the largest such event in the world, included professors from CUNY, Duke, MIT, UMass, University of Maryland, Arizona State, and Georgetown, as well as executives from Google, Televisa, Qualcomm, Microsoft, Intel, and Hewlett Packard. Sanders and several of NCWIT's research scientists also spoke during the event.

Kate Sang's research about equality and diversity in the workplace focuses largely on gender issues. But the associate professor of management at Heriot-Watt University in the United Kingdom also knows firsthand about another less frequently discussed dimension of diversity: disability. To better understand the breadth of challenges disabled academics face and to bring the topic more to the fore, she recently conducted a qualitative survey of researchers in the United Kingdom. In an interview with Science Careers, Sang discusses what she learned about the experiences of disabled academics and how even small changes could make their working lives easier. The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

An analysis of thousands of scientific papers dating back to 1950 shows female researchers are cited less frequently. The citations found at the end of research papers serve several purposes, like providing background on the current work and giving proper credit where it's due. They can also, according to a new study, reveal decades' worth of trends in whole fields of science. A trio of researchers have waded though more than half a century of research published in astronomy journals and found that studies authored by women receive 10 percent fewer citations than similar studies written by men.

Google argued that it was too financially burdensome and logistically challenging to compile and hand over salary records that the government has requested, sparking a strong rebuke from the US Department of Labor (DoL), which has accused the Silicon Valley firm of underpaying women. Google officials testified in federal court on Friday that it would have to spend up to 500 hours of work and $100,000 to comply with investigators' ongoing demands for wage data that the DoL believes will help explain why the technology corporation appears to be systematically discriminating against women.

Apple has promoted Denise Young Smith, its global head of human resources and a 20-year veteran of the company, to a newly created VP position in charge of diversity and inclusion efforts, according to 9to5Mac. The role means Smith will be in charge of the team responsible for improving Apple's diversity figures, helping make the iPhone maker's workplace, hiring practices, and other HR-related business aspects more open to and conscious of women, minorities, and the LGBTQ community. Smith has since confirmed the role on her LinkedIn profile.

Little progress is being made in representing women in senior IT leadership roles, according to a global survey of chief information officers (CIOs) released Tuesday. The percentage of female IT leaders (such as CIOs, chief technology officers, or vice presidents of technology) remains at 9 percent, the same last year, according to the 2017 Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO survey. This survey of 4,498 CIOs and technology leaders, conducted online across 86 countries between December 2016 and April 2017, found little change in the number of women holding leadership roles, despite one third of organizations having diversity initiatives.

The NCWIT Summit is the world's largest annual convening of change leaders focused on significantly improving diversity and inclusion in computing. Educators, entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and social scientists from across industries and disciplines (both men and women) participate in this one-of-a-kind opportunity. The 2017 NCWIT Summit is being streamed live, starting May 23rd.