According to a report by the American census, despite making up nearly half of the U.S. workforce, women are still vastly underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce.

Women made gains from 8% of STEM workers in 1970 to 27% in 2019  but men still dominated the field. Men made up 52% of all U.S. workers but 73% of all STEM workers.

Given the technological advancements with things like AI, robotics, nanotechnology and the internet of things, STEM occupations are expected to increase over the next ten years however the gender gap in STEM persists. 

According to the non-profit consulting firm Catalyst, the gap in STEM begins in  education and is fuelled by gender stereotypes and expectations regarding “women’s work.”

In today’s episode I speak to Alisha Arora, a 14 year old young woman, who is on a mission to leverage exponential technology to solve some of the world’s largest problems. Alisha is an advocate and activator for mental health, and is currently researching at MIT’s AI lab to diagnose and prevent suicide with machine learning. Alisha represents the future of STEM and so today in this inspiring episode Alisha will share her work, ambitions, and experiences working in STEM.