In 2008, research suggested there was no gender gap in math performance in the US. From second to 11th grades, girls did just as well as boys on state standardized math tests. A new, well-designed, and large study suggests otherwise. It looks at younger children and shows that there is a tiny gender gap when kids start school (albeit larger among the very top performers) and that it widens, across all ability levels, through third grade. That's a critical timeframe, as past research shows that early math achievement determines a child's interest and confidence in the subject during elementary and middle school, and strongly predicts how good at math she'll be later on. Perhaps most unsettling is the study's finding that teachers perceive girls with nearly identical mathematical abilities- and identical behavioral profiles - to be significantly less able than their male counterparts, and that bias itself is part of the reason girls end up doing worse.

Many science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) areas now show a gender parity - women earn about half of the undergraduate degrees in biology, chemistry and mathematics. This, however, is not true of all STEM areas - women earn fewer than one out of every five of the undergraduate degrees in computer science and engineering. The failure of computer science and engineering to recruit and graduate women is incredibly costly. These disciplines often offer high-paying jobs, and men's greater participation in lucrative jobs in these fields perpetuates the gender gap in pay. That's not all. When predominantly male engineering teams design lifesaving products, such as airbags and heart valves, they often do so with male bodies in mind. This has far-reaching implications - some of these products have caused injuries and deaths for women and children. The research shows gender gaps in computer science and engineering are a result of a masculine culture that dominates these fields.

Given the popularity of the computer science major, it's likely that you've heard some of your friends complain about a coding assignment. But what percentage of those friends are female? Competition for tech talent is intense, with new computer science graduates commanding one of the highest starting salaries. However, men still hold a disproportionate number of jobs in computer science fields. A National Science Foundation study in 2013 found that women's participation in engineering and computer science fields was less than 30 percent. Some students and faculty at Duke have noticed the gender gap in the computer science major. However, according to data provided by Frank Blalark, assistant vice provost and university registrar, the percentage of female computer science majors actually fell from 22.7 percent in 2014 to 17.5 percent in 2015. Rodger noted that she has also observed an emerging trend for female computer science students to exit the major as course levels get higher.

To the average person, news of a massive gender gap in STEM-related fields would likely be unsurprising. A report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows that in 2014, 81 percent of Bachelor's degrees in engineering were obtained by male graduates, while 19 percent of degrees were received by female graduates. Similarly, computer sciences saw a gap of 82 percent to 18 percent between males and females, and physical sciences were divided into 61 percent male and 39 percent female, while females dominate fields in the social sciences. This report, just one in a series of similar studies, is hardly news, and it seems that Americans are well aware of the gender gap. The question now is how to shift the balance toward equal representation.

It's not your imagination or a just a hunch: Female chief executives are treated differently by the media than their male counterparts, a new analysis of press coverage of CEOs confirms. As you might expect, female CEOs' personal and family lives are much more frequently the subject of articles, according to the study, an examination of news coverage of 20 chief executives - men and women - released Wednesday by the Rockefeller Foundation. More striking than that? The study's authors could not find a single article written about a male CEO that mentioned family life.

Dot is like a lot of 8-year-old girls in 2016 - spirited, smart and savvy when it comes to all things tech. Although Dot is a cartoon, she is doing real-world work to inspire girls to take these qualities into their adult lives. A new children's show, Dot, featuring the young character recently premiered in the hopes of tackling tech's gender gap. The titular character is a spunky girl with insatiable curiosity about the world - and she uses technology to help learn, create and explore. The groundbreaking show explores what it's like to live as a child - particularly a young girl - in a tech-focused world.

''She Started It'' focuses primarily on two young women: Thuy Truong, a Vietnamese serial entrepreneur, and Stacey Ferreira, who dropped out of college to pursue a business idea. Ferreira and her brother had already started and sold a company successfully. Directors and producers Insiyah Saeed and Nora Poggi followed Truong and Ferreira for two years, capturing moments like Truong practice-pitching at 500 Startups, venture capitalist Dave McClure's fund and accelerator, and Ferreira listening to her mother extol the virtues of going to college, while telling Ferreira's brother that many successful people don't.

Virtual Reality (VR) and 360 image exploration provide educators with opportunities to embrace Placed-Based Education by extending the walls of the classroom to learn in virtual environments near and far. The availability of inexpensive VR headsets, 360 cameras and a variety of apps to create 360 photos has brought VR closer to the mainstream in education this year. This increased access to VR resources provides educators with a natural fit for learning through Place-Based Education. At the most basic level, one way to embrace 'Genius Loci', the spirit of a place, is to provide students with opportunities to tell digital stories about local areas of interest powered by ThingLink's interactive 360 image editor. The tool provides a seamless way for students to capture learning on the go through mobile devices, and it offers a platform for constructing deep digital stories.

A new program aims to launch the careers of diverse life scientists - including women and members of other underrepresented groups - by providing up to 8 years of support, covering both the postdoctoral training and junior faculty stages. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute's (HHMI's) Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program, announced 19 September, will award up to 15 recipients with $60,000 of salary support and $20,000 in flexible funds paid to their institutions for each of up to 4 years of postdoc training. Fellows who obtain a tenure-track position at a U.S university that offers a doctorate in their field will then receive $250,000 of annual research support and $20,000 in flexible funds for up to an additional 4 years.

In the corporate world, women hold only 19.9% of board seats, 5% of CEO positions and 21.1% of executive officials. Women represent 12% of CFOs, 17% of CTOs, 14% of CMOs and 48% of CHROs and yes, 76% of HR managers. Women entrepreneurs have started approximately 11.3 million businesses and generate over $1.6 trillion in revenue. Access to capital remains the growth issue in the U.S. and globally. In the U.S. only 4-10% of venture capital funds go to women. In the world of finance, just 9.4% of fund managers are women. Sweden and Norway lead the way with female representation in finance. Women investors have returns that are on average 12% higher than men. Technology is challenging. While women hold 57% of professional jobs, only 25% of computing workforce positions are held by women and 30% of the overall tech workforce. Women are, however, leading the way in social media as 68% of all women use social media, compared to 62% of all men. Morgan James Publishing releases Women's Quick Facts: Compelling Data on Why Women Matter by STEMconnector. Facts tell the story; the numbers have an impact and extraordinary meaning. Women are the showcase of our economy and society, and this book is a significant resource on the case for women and their economic contribution. Gender equity is a major issue on all fronts. Women's Quick Facts aggregates compelling facts with more than 310 organizations cited.