Do efforts to get more women in STEM actually work?

We know there is a gender gap in science, but do programs designed to close this gap actually work? A review of initiatives offered across Australia focused on women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), has found little evidence that the programs actually work. Of  the 337 initiatives offered in Australia only seven provided some publicly available link to evidence of impact or an evaluation of their effectiveness. The author says this shows that while there is a concerted effort to engage girls and women in STEM, the absence of any meaningful evidence of impact means we simply do not know whether these initiatives are benefiting these girls and women in the long term or not.