Young Women's Conference in STEM: Our starting point for getting women into STEM fields

The number of women in STEM careers is staggeringly low; just one in seven engineers are female and only 27{\%} of all computer science jobs are held by women. A recent US Dept. of Commerce report found that between 2000-2011 women experienced no employment growth in STEM jobs. According to the AIP, the percentage of women in physics overall is 26{\%} and women make up less than 7{\%} of the fusion energy workforce. To address this problem we have, since 2001, run a conference to introduce young women to the wide range of careers in STEM fields in a way that is not part of their typical education. By introducing students in a meaningful way to successful women in STEM, from graduate students to senior researchers, the intent of the conference is to foster interest, develop mentoring relationships, and to provide role models that will have a positive influence on future educational and career choices. Data from surveys indicate that this is indeed the impact. For example, 86{\%} of~2015 attendees indicated they are more likely to major in a scientific field after attending the~conference then they were before. We are now in the process of expanding and improving the conference in order to reach more students and increase the overall impact.