Why are there significantly less women in S.T.E.M fields, what we can do to help

[Jenny A]

I don't understand why there are less women in STEM though.
I know really smart girls, well less in comparison to men but they are still pretty freaking smart.
This girl I knew in 10th grade was like my arch enemy, intellectually of course. The sad part was that she defeated me in my own game, very often, which is kind of shocking cos I never nobody have ever owned me in my own game like she has. Which made me in furious and then I kind of liked her. I wish there were more women with the mental capacity like her's

Because we're conditioned to believe that unless we are pretty, pleasant, and not too smart, people will like us and approve of us. If we show too much intellect, we're made fun of and called dyke or geek or otherwise unattractive. It starts at a very early age. Little girls get dolls, little boys get cars and trucks.

I'm curious, is your father a STEM boy?  And do you have brothers?  The women I know who were most STEM encouraged in my generation had STEM fathers and no brothers, making them a sort of pseud Daddy's son.