Mentors Help Create A Sustainable Pipeline For Women In STEM

About a month ago I posted my opinion on an article about women missing out on computer science careers. Today, I'm going to talk about an article discussing some ways to solve the problem of the lack of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) careers.

The focus of the article was on a mentor program called Million Women Mentor. It was created with the goal of creating a sustainable pipeline of women by mobilizing and engaging one million men and women to serve as STEM mentors by 2018. The point of the program is to create a pathway for young girls to become interested in STEM fields at an early age. It's also maintaining a woman's interest in STEM. It's not enough to just get women to earn their degrees in these fields, but helping them stay in those fields throughout their careers. The program also aims to develop that path in different ways. Some ways to create this path are face-to-face internships, online resources, internships, etc.

I truly love this article because it's one solution that has been developed to the problem of women's lack of participation in STEM fields. It shows what people can do to help close the gap and also gives examples. What I especially liked about the article was that it discussed not only getting women in these careers, but also finding ways to make sure they stay there. Let's hope that other initiatives such as this begin to arise more frequently.

Here is a picture with very interesting facts found on the article:

Click the link below to go to the original article:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bonniemarcus/2014/03/28/mentors-help-create-a-sustainable-pipeline-for-women-in-stem/

Wisconsin among worst-performing states for entrepreneurship, report finds

 The title of this article is actually pretty self explanatory. The number of small businesses started up in Wisconsin is one of the lowest in the entire country. This article discusses the fact that in Wisconsin, 170 businesses were created for every 100,000 adults. This was a 0.08 percentage point decrease in entrepreneurial activity in the three years through 2013 versus the three years through 2003, which is one of the worst declines in the country.

There are some good news however. Wisconsin is doing better at creating high-tech start-ups. Software has been a strong sector and life sciences is coming back. Milwaukee is beginning to fix problem, but the start-ups have not yet gotten big enough to require venture capital. 

The lack of Wisconsin entrepreneurship has consequences that go below the lack of new small businesses. These businesses are the ones that employ the most people. They are the heart and soul of our country's economy. More initiatives need to be implemented to ensure Wisconsin is no longer at the bottom.

To end on a positive note, in the last three years about 40% of the semifinalists in the Governor's Business Plan Contest, which attracts entrepreneurs with ideas or very early-stage companies, have come from the Milwaukee area.

Click the link below to go to the original article:
http://www.jsonline.com/business/wisconsin-among-worst-performing-states-for-entrepreneurship-report-finds-b99245006z1-254748071.html