On June 13, over 100 representatives of the private sector, science organizations, governments, educators, and academia gathered at the State Department to ponder how to encourage women and girls to engage in science, technology, engineering, and math careers (STEM), and how to keep them in those careers. We were joined in this global conversation by 15 women scientists from Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, the Gambia, India, Iraq, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tanzania, and the West Bank, each of whom brought unique perspectives.

This conversation matters because we are confronting major global challenges — how to overcome food insecurity, how to prevent deadly diseases, how to preserve natural resources, to name just some — and science is at the heart of the solutions. We need the best ideas from every source in order to make progress on tough problems, and that means that women must be at the scientific table. Too often, they are not. This leaves girls without role models or mentors and it deprives societies of the scientific talents and diversity of ideas that women bring to the table.

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