Milli floated some possibilities. Men still outnumber women in STEM research, which means women have smaller, more limited networks they can turn to for advice, she said. Those networks can also make the difference in access to venture capital to usher an idea into reality.

To guide more women toward STEM careers, Harvey Mudd College President Maria Klawe says you have to “make the first course wonderful” and provide plenty of encouragement as opposed to offering introductory courses designed to weed out students.

Klawe, a mathematician who dedicated her life to diversifying math and science, also encouraged professors to reframe class instruction as creative problem solving.

This year for the first time, more than half of Harvey Mudd College’s graduating class of computer science majors were female students, more than three times the national average, she said.