????卡倫?珀塞爾決定主修電子工程時，就連被她輔導過數學課的幾個男性朋友都感到驚訝不已。她回憶說：“幾乎所有人的反應都是：‘工程系？為什么？’或者‘你知道你學的是什么嗎？’”即使到了現在，作為PK Electrical公司（位于里諾的PK Electrical公司是一家獲過獎的電氣設計、工程和咨詢公司）總裁的她偶爾也會在工地上碰到這樣的客戶：“他們本能地想找個男性團隊成員來答疑解惑，哪怕他剛從學校畢業。”她說：“我也經常被稱為‘親愛的’。”

????工程和技術領域里的大部分女性（數量并不多）可能都對此深有體會。盡管存在著引人注目的科技公司女性高管，例如謝麗爾?桑德伯格和羅睿蘭，但在所有的計算機科學崗位中，只有約20%是由女性擔任。盡管女性握有60%的學士學位，并且在勞動大軍中占到48%，但僅有7%的首席信息官（CIO）是女性，每7名工程師中也只有1名是女性。

????為了彌合這種差距，珀塞爾撰寫了一本書，名叫《解鎖才華：女性在科學、技術、工程和數學領域興盛壯大的明智策略》（Unlocking Your Brilliance: Smart Strategies for Women to Thrive in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math）。這本書所得收益將用于資助非盈利組織STEMspire。她在去年夏天創建的這個組織向女性STEM（即科學、技術、工程和數學）學生提供獎學金，并向創辦技術和工程公司的女性提供種子資金。在最近的一次訪談中，珀塞爾談到了這些領域里女性為什么這么少的原因，也談到了改變這種情況的辦法。

????《財富》：從事STEM工作的大多是男性，這是為什么？

????珀塞爾：有兩個原因。首先，女性自身錯過了進入這些領域的好機會。美國商務部（the Department of Commerce）預測，到2018年，STEM崗位數量將增加17%，遠遠超過了其他大多數行業的增速。STEM也已經躋身收入最高的領域，原因部分在于崗位需求的增長。

????但除此之外，就實際情況而言，女性的缺乏導致了產品設計錯誤等問題。以自動化工程師設計首批安全氣囊為例。這些安全氣囊按照設計團隊成員的身體尺寸來設計，但他們都是男性。因此，安全氣囊在車禍中展開時，體型較小的人（女性和小孩）就有可能受傷。語音識別軟件也遇到了類似的情況。這些軟件起初只能識別男性的聲音。讓更多女性參與進來有助于企業設計出對所有客戶都能發揮功效的產品，而不僅僅是另一半的男性。

????那么，為什么沒有更多的女性從事工程和技術工作呢？

????這種差距很早以前就出現了。當時，初中和高中里的女生們開始收到這樣的隱晦信息：數學和科學是男生干的事情。很多研究顯示，女生在標準化數學測試中的表現和男生一樣好，但父母和教育工作者的那種無意識偏見把男生推向了科學和數學領域，同時把女生排擠在外。幸好這種情況現在已經開始改變。

????已經在從事STEM工作的女性如何獲得認可和晉升？

????When Karen Purcell decided to major in electrical engineering, even male friends whom she'd tutored through math classes were surprised. "The typical reaction from almost everybody was, 'Engineering? Why?' or 'Do you know what you're getting yourself into?'" she recalls. Even now, as president of PK Electrical, an award-winning electrical design, engineering, and consulting firm based in Reno, Purcell runs into the occasional client on a construction site who "automatically looks to a male team member for answers, even if he's fresh out of school," she says. "I get called 'honey' and 'dear' a lot, too."

????Most women in engineering and tech can probably identify — not that there are many of them. Despite a scattering of high-profile female tech executives like Sheryl Sandberg and Ginni Rometty, women still hold only about 20% of all computer science jobs. A tiny 7% of CIOs are female, and one in seven engineers, despite the fact that women hold 60% of all bachelor's degrees and make up 48% of the workforce overall.

????To help close that gap, Purcell wrote a book, Unlocking Your Brilliance: Smart Strategies for Women to Thrive in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. The proceeds will help finance STEMspire, a nonprofit she launched last summer to offer scholarships to female STEM students and seed money to women starting tech and engineering companies. In a recent conversation, Purcell talked about why there are still so few women in these careers, and what it will take to change that.

????Fortune: Why does it matter that STEM careers are still pursued mostly by men?

????Purcell: It matters for a couple of reasons. First, women themselves are missing out on great opportunities by not going into these fields. The Department of Commerce is predicting that STEM job openings will grow 17% by 2018, a much faster rate than most other careers. And these are among the highest-paying fields too, in part because of that rising demand.

????But beyond that, in very practical terms, the shortage of women leads to problems like mistakes in product design. Look at what happened when automotive engineers designed the first airbags, for example. The airbags were designed to fit the body dimensions of the all-male design team. So when the airbags deployed in car accidents, people with smaller body sizes -- women and children -- were at risk of injury. Something similar occurred with voice-recognition software, which at first was calibrated to recognize only male voices. Having more women around helps companies design products that will work for all their customers, not just the male half.

????So why aren't there more women in engineering and tech jobs?

????The gap starts very early, when girls in middle school and high school start getting subtle messages that math and science are for boys. Even though plenty of research shows that girls do just as well as boys on standardized math tests, there is this unintentional bias among parents and educators that pushes boys toward science and math, and nudges girls away. Luckily, that is starting to change.

????What are some ways that women already in STEM jobs can gain recognition and move up?