I recently read an article in TNW News that spoke about the gender gap in technology and how better networking is the solution.

I totally agree that women in STEM need a better network! And the leading tech companies should provide that environment for the 1st year students starting in those programs each year. I read another article “STEM Attrition: College Students’ Paths Into and Out of STEM Fields” that stated that nearly one-half of 1st year STEM students transfer out after their first year and the biggest reason being that they didn’t feel connected.

More Specifically, Among bachelor’s degree students entering STEM fields between 2003 and 2009, nearly one-half (48 percent) had left these fields by spring 2009 (figure 2). Some left STEM fields by switching their major to a non-STEM field (28 percent), while others exited college entirely without earning a degree or certificate (20 percent).

If we create programs / events to help build stronger relationships between 1st year, 3rd year, and women in the industry, I bet more women would stay in the programs.

You are probably wondering what an event that could connect and bridge the gap between all of those levels in STEM would look like. At High Heel Golfer, we created a golf happy hour event that increases overall confidence by 85%, where attendees felt 77% closer to the other attendees and were 86% more likely to communicate with different levels of management after our event.

I believe hosting a Golf Happy Hour with the right people – 1st year STEM, 3rd/4th year STEM students and women already working in the Tech Industry – would help make the 1st year students more comfortable and accepted which would increase the rate of retention in the STEM field which in turn should give the tech industry a bigger pool of women to hire from, thus getting us one step closer to having more women in the tech industry!

What do you think?