I have read through all of the comments on this post and have a number of thoughts from the view point of 1) a mom of 2 girls interested in STEM stuff, 2) a teacher 3) a STEM professional (I am a physicist teacher) 4) lead mentor on a FIRST robotics team.
I can see this from all possible angles (DH is also a physicist, so from the male STEM side as well). The number of girls I have come across in my 20 years of teaching that have changed their minds about going into STEM fields because it is so masculine is unbelievable. These have been incredibly bright, imaginative, hard working girls who are not interested in being the 1% female in their classes, or having to learn science and math the same way boys do. No matter what the research says, from personal experience as a female physicist and as a teacher, girls and boys learn differently and excel in different environments while learning STEM subjects.
My daughters crave the attention of female scientists because they "get it" when DDs explain an idea or a reason for looking at a situation from a different view point that the males they have talked to look at and say huh?
I did not meet a female physicist until I was a graduate student! And it blew me away to actually meet another female who not only loved physics as much as I did (and do) but also was so much smarter than I am that I felt like a babbling idiot in-front of her. (And I am a very self-confident person). I thought long and hard about that and my reaction was absolutely based on the fact that my exposure to really smart, physicists had been limited to males only. I had long since figured out that females weren't supposed to be physicists because we obviously weren't smart enough - I'd never met one, so they must not be there.
My female students on my robotics team hang on every word from the female engineering mentor we have and shine under her mentoring, whereas these same girls are insecure and timid when they are dealing with some of the male mentors who are just as good at mentoring as the female is.
I not only see a need for programs like this, but wish there were more of them - girls in this country are constantly bombarded with messages that they are not supposed to be smart and not supposed to go into stem fields. I fight this battle everyday with my students, team members and now with my daughters.
And, as a last note, I am one who does not put Mrs. in front of my name when making contacts with STEM type places/people (including car repair shops, air conditioner repairs, and computer shops) because I want them to take me seriously for what I can do and know as well as answer my questions fully as opposed to patronizing me because I am a woman (and yes, it happens all the time.)
