Accept women in STEM

Thanks to Jared Mauldin for his thoughtful letter, reported in the Nov. 2 Spokesman-Review, regarding gender bias against girls and women interested in STEM careers. I’m not sure it’s ironic that a man’s letter about the issue receives so much attention. Sadly, it’s what I expect in our world.

A personal note: My granddaughter is close to finishing her computer science degree at a college in British Columbia. Her journey was hellish for a time. As the only female student in her class, she endured harassment and sexual innuendos. In group projects, she often did the bulk of the work, for which male classmates were quite willing to take credit. She finally took her case before the school, leading to the expulsion of a couple of male students from the program.

How long will it take before women’s interest in science, math and technology is accepted and they are encouraged to pursue their dreams? And what must it be like for minority women? Come on, men, surely our egos can handle it if a woman is better at math than we are.

Richard Shute

Otis Orchards