Female college students are 1.5 times more likely than their male counterparts to leave science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) after taking the first course in the calculus series, new research finds. The study, published last week in PLOS ONE, supports what many educators have observed and earlier studies have documented: A lack of confidence in mathematical ability, not mathematical capability itself, is a major factor in dissuading female students from pursuing STEM.

In venture capital-financed, high-growth technology startups, only 9% of entrepreneurs are women. That's really low. Women make up nearly half of the U.S. workforce. They are majority owners of 36% of small businesses. Of course, VC-financed tech startups are different from the general workforce. Your typical small business is not a future Uber or Facebook. Tech startups imply a science and engineering focus, two fields that are known to be less popular with women. Still, even compared to women's lower participation in STEM fields, 9% is quite low. In computer science and math-related jobs, 27% of the US workforce is female. That's still triple the rate of VC-backed female entrepreneurship. What is going on with this phenomenon? News articles speak of sexism, a boys' club, and a toxic atmosphere for women in Silicon Valley. They suggest that's why female entrepreneurs have trouble securing financing from venture capitalists. And that when they do get funding, female entrepreneurs cannot work effectively with their backers due to the male-oriented atmosphere.

Microsoft Research has brought forth great ideas, innovations, and interesting research projects from a wide variety of participants. Over the past couple of years, theyve reported on several researchers who have brought artificial intelligence, computational thinking and smart road projects to the public.Among the highlighted researchers, they've noticed a growing trend of women who have led advanced exploration in computing and technology, and it seems Microsoft has also made the same observation. Microsoft Research's distinguished scientist Susan Dumais is highlighting the recent announcement of the company's efforts to support women in computing through its fellowship program.

Facebook's third diversity report in two years shows its demographics have shifted very little, with African Americans and Hispanics still comprising a tiny fraction of the tech giant's workforce. Hispanics represent 4% and African Americans 2% of Facebook's U.S. workers, percentages that have not budged since 2014 and that fall below other industries' averages. Facebook has made slightly more progress on gender diversity, yet nearly seven out of 10 employees around the globe are men. The report, coming weeks after similar results from Google, raises serious questions about the technology industry's progress in addressing the chronic shortage of women and minorities.

Rachel Holladay built a mapping website for the U.S. Department of the Navy and was a longtime veteran of the FIRST Robotics program, all before arriving at Carnegie Mellon University in 2013. Since then, she's conducted robotics research and has been a leader in the School of Computer Science's Women @ SCS and SCS4All outreach organizations while carrying full courseloads. It's no surprise that the rising computer science senior and Slidell, La., native earned the 2016 Collegiate Award from the National Center for Women & IT (NCWIT). Sponsored by Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Qualcomm, the award honors the outstanding technical accomplishments of college women. The award recognizes women's technical contributions to projects that demonstrate a high level of creativity and potential societal impact. Winners receive $10,000, a trophy and a trip to the NCWIT Summit in Women and IT - held this past May in Las Vegas.

In India's IT and BPM sector, women fill 51 percent of entry-level jobs, according to Nasscom, a trade association for the Indian IT sector. On average, women fill 35 percent of tech roles in India, compared to only 21 percent in the US. But a looming problem remains - 50 percent of Indian women leave the technical workforce at junior and mid-level positions. This dropout is problematic for companies because recruiting, retaining and advancing women technologists isn't just an aspiration; it's a business imperative. Here are five areas Indian companies must focus on to boost women in technical roles.

Tech's diversity problem is not new information, especially to those of us who work in the industry. There is a trend taking hold in tech companies over the past few years: publishing diversity stats. While taking a hard look in the mirror is an important step in addressing diversity issues, taking additional steps to implement meaningful change efforts is also important. But what steps are most effective? In this webinar, Dr. Catherine Ashcraft, NCWIT Senior Research Scientist, presents 10 research-based strategies for increasing diversity.

You're invited to join NCWIT (The National Center for Women & Information Technology) and distinguished guests from the Seattle area to celebrate the recipient of the 2016 NCWIT Symons Innovator Award. We are excited to host the event at the Amazon Doppler Tower in downtown Seattle; Amazon is a proud member of NCWIT, working with us to increase girls' and women's meaningful participation in computing. This year the distinguished awardee is Kate Matsudaira. Kate is a successful technology entrepreneur, having founded Popforms, a company that delivers bite-sized, digestible corporate education - recently the company was acquired by Safari Books. Kate has also held high-level positions at Amazon, Microsoft, Moz, and Decide. She has truly been at the forefront of numerous technology innovations.

The White House Office of Public Engagement & Office of Science and Technology Policy are looking for technologists, innovators and community leaders to participate in this year's White House LGBTQ Tech & Innovation Summit on August 23rd, 2016. The Summit will bring together over 200 of the most innovative and talented LGBTQ technology leaders to tackle some of the world's greatest challenges.

A group of prominent women in the tech industry have announced that they are planning a new conference for Women in Product. The conference, which is sponsored in part by Facebook, will be held at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Sept. 13. It is open to women who have eight or more years of experience in product leadership. Expected attendees include women from companies like Twitter, Uber, Apple and Google.