“When it’s dark, there’s an opportunity,” said Pierre Kayitana, 31, director of operations for RwandaOnline, a company that works to digitize government services in the country. “Rwanda knew (technology) would create hundreds of thousands of jobs and opportunities. It was a way forward.”

An increasing number of people make a living in the gig economy. In a 2016 poll, 24 percent of Americans reported earning money from gig economy platforms, and the majority said that this income is important or essential to make ends meet. In this context, what are the implications of our findings? Some claim the rise of “alternative work” arrangements could offer opportunities for women to close the remaining labor market gaps. Our results suggest a more uncertain future. On the one hand, they indicate that women may gain from workplace environments in which the rules of bargaining are unambiguous, as studies show that men often have the upper hand when the rules are less clear.

Reflecting on my career in the wake of the ongoing, important discussions about gender imbalance in tech, I believe there are four groups critical to bucking the brogrammer culture and encouraging women in STEM.

“Disney opened the door to so many opportunities for our girls,” says Girls Who Code VP of Marketing and Communications Kelly Parisi. “You can’t be what you can’t see, and Disney did a phenomenal job showing our girls incredible role models and experiences. From bringing in fantastic speakers, running a panel with women in tech, to showing the girls the technology behind the magic at Disneyland, they gave our girls a glimpse of so many potential futures.”

Critics have claimed that gender specific toys can shape girls’ career ambitions, while parents and teachers also play a major role in influencing children’s career choices. A study by the Institution of Engineering and Technology found parents’ outdated perceptions of jobs for men and women are discouraging girls from pursuing a future in the science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) sector. The research showed that parents were more likely to recommend careers in caring and education for girls.

Young women are more likely to experience harassment. While one in two Australian women has experienced sexual harassment in her lifetime, the Australian Bureau of Statistics' 2016 Personal Safety report found that in the 12 months preceding the survey, women aged 18 to 24 were more likely to have experienced it.

What prevents women from entering STEM fields and what drives them out? Research points to unconducive work environments and a lack of workplace policies that support a healthy work-life balance. Access to affordable, quality childcare is one such policy area that can significantly effect working parents’ career choices and earning potential. Examining workplace policies, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, found in its latest report that companies that support employees’ childcare needs can strengthen their bottom line by recruiting and retaining talent, reducing absenteeism and turnover, and increasing employee satisfaction and productivity.

The videos tell the stories of women overcoming early 20th-century barriers to enter the sciences. Yates, the first black woman to head a college science department, was told she “wouldn’t amount to anything.” Colleagues said Curie, a pioneer in radioactivity research and the first person to win two Nobel Prizes, “would never succeed.” And men mocked Pennington, who helped improve sanitation standards for the handling of milk, and said she “belonged in the kitchen.”

Only 13 percent of U.S. engineering jobs are held by women, and an even smaller percentage by Latinas. According to the latest report by the National Science Foundation, only 2 percent of employed engineers are Hispanic women.

Take a break and let others speak. To whom are you paying attention? Is it the always same male crowd? For social media, some tools let you check the gender breakdown of the people you read. Make sure to identify those voices you’ve ignored so far and listen to them. Along the same lines, ask to whom you are giving an audience.

"I think schools essentially teach to boys. They’re not thinking like that, but by and large the things they’re showing; because they just show games instead of all these other things you can do to get everyone interested, [the problem] starts there. There are also not enough women role models for students to look at and say: 'Wow, she’s an incredible coder. I want to be like that.' It's not the only reason, but it is an issue."

The US effort will assess the experiences of both students and university staff. “We’ve had a lot of intervention programs and it’s not moving the needle. We are exploring this strategy in order to try something that’s better.”