Dr. Tendu Yogurtcu, Forbes Council Member and Chief Technology Officer, recently spoke about the role of STEM in achieving gender equality.

Since the pandemic, the expected timeline for closing the gender gap in STEM has increased from 99.5 years to 135.6 years. When it comes to work sectors that involve innovative technical skills, women make up 14%, and 32% of the data and AI work force.

Although these statistics are alarming, Dr. Yogurtcu has come up with four simple steps that can help women get more involved in STEM fields, which will contribute to getting closer to achieving gender equality.

The first step is getting different organizations to become active partners. There are organizations like Girls Who Code, who are actively searching for young women to participate in their missions, so they can help provide internships, networking opportunities and financial resources.

The second step is putting your money where your mouth is. Dr. Yogurtcu is calling on others to make financial donations and form corporate-sponsored fundraisers to help raise money, this will ultimately drive the long-term success of nonprofit organizations whose mission is to help young women in STEM.

The third step is to take an outside-in approach. Invite more external guest speakers who can share their journeys and opportunities. Young women can benefit from this type of exposure, and this will also help them seek out mentorship opportunities in this field as well.

The fourth and final step is to create more internships for future technology. Internships are a great way for younger people to develop within a company and its current needs, but it is time to focus on our future needs in technology. Technology is everchanging and this younger generation is what is needed to help develop these things.

Taking part in a few simple steps can help women in STEM go a long way.