A recent survey showed that STEM degrees are among the most lucrative for graduates. When you look at the gender breakdown of students entering these fields, it’s about 60% male and 40% female, and at the PhD level the numbers are closer. But what happens as people’s career trajectories progress? Over time, those talented women with their PhD in STEM start to drop out of technical and industrial careers. By the time careers reach leadership levels, as few as 15% of those talented women remain, according to some estimates.