Even though 53 percent of employees say a role that allows them to have greater work-life balance and better personal well-being is ''very important'' to them (Gallup's State of the American Workplace 2017), fostering networking built on real-life connections is often forgotten. But networking is so important, and it's often even more important for women, who sometimes lack genuine support in their industries and tend to prioritize roles at home over maintaining female connections. Connections with other women to help one another through real issues, and promote genuine, lasting relationships in business and in life. While some companies are making strides in creating professional female-focused groups, particularly in the technology sector, many times women can forget that remaining connected with women on many different career levels and in different industries can lead to growth and new opportunities.

The gender gap in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics is a known and stubborn quandary: While women make up roughly half of the college-educated U.S. workforce, they account for less than 30% of STEM jobs. To fix that, the Girl Scouts hopes to prepare at least 2.5 million girls for potential STEM-related jobs by 2025. That mission includes a new awareness campaign, followed by the expansion of an elementary-school effort called ''Think Like a Programmer'' to keep girls interested in science and tech as they move on to middle school and high school. The awareness component has a simple message: Women may be underrepresented in science and tech, but they've already made huge impacts. To highlight that, the Girl Scouts created a video in which five of its current members transform into five current and historical STEM icons. They began sharing photos of the transformation in honor of Computer Science Education Week in early December.

House members approved three bills that would support individuals who aim to pursue careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, Nextgov reported Friday. The STEM Research and Education Effectiveness and Transparency Act would require the National Science Foundation to inform Congress about its efforts to encourage women and historically underrepresented groups to engage in government research and education programs. The Women in Aerospace Education Act seeks to boost the participation of women in fellowship programs at NASA and national laboratories. The Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act would give veterans more opportunities to pursue STEM-related jobs. All three bills were approved as part of Congress' ''Science Day'' and sent to the Senate's commerce, science and transportation committee for review.

Getting more girls into STEM isn't rocket science - you just need to fire up their imaginations. That's the mission behind American Girl's new 2018 Girl of the Year, Luciana Vega, who wants to be the first person on Mars. The Mattel-owned toymaker debuted the aspiring astronaut doll on ''Good Morning America'' last week before a group of girls dressed in official NASA flight suits. American Girl teamed up with an out-of-this-word advisory board, including NASA's former chief scientists Dr. Ellen Stofan and NASA astronaut Dr. Megan McArthur Behnken, to make their first STEM-themed character's story and product line as accurate as possible. Luciana is an 11-year-old who wins a scholarship to attend Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. So American Girl editors and product designers visited Space Camp and NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to see a day in the life of a trainee, such as putting on space suits and learning the ''right'' way to eat in space, or conducting a mission in microgravity.

The year 2017 put gender bias in focus again. Firms must study the numbers if they want to thrive, writes entrepreneur and author Sarah Lacy. In this extract from her new book, Lacy makes the case that hiring women isn't just the right thing to do - it makes business sense too.