The effort and the research over the last 30 years has been great. Girls are nearly equal to boys in their attendance in math and science classes. However, it hasn't translated to actual increases in the number of engineers, computer scientists or careers in the “hard sciences”.
One women-studies researcher said it best when she said, we are now telling girls that while you can do it, you still shouldn't.
When I use the term “hard science”, I'm not talking about it being difficult and that is what is keeping women out. But this XKCD comic illustrates the issue that women primarily make careers out of the “left” side.
Additional Notes
Comic is taken from XKCD: http://xkcd.com/435/
Women may not be interested in engineering fields. But America is behind other countries in the percentage of women engineers.
1 Girls have made great strides in the life sciences, for example, but are still underrepresented in cutting-edge fields such as computer science and engineering. Beyond the "Gender Wars": A Conversation about Girls, Boys, and Education, AAUW Educational Foundation, Feb 2001, page 3 (www.aauw.org) http://www.aauw.org/research/upload/BeyondGenderWar.pdf
2 Girls’ enrollment in mathematics and science courses at the high school level roughly mirrors boys’ enrollment—an equal outcome. Yet as Campbell remarks: “In terms of middle-class girls, all the increases in achievement [and] all the increased participation at the pre-college level have not translated into more girls going into the physical sciences, engineering, and fields like that in college. So, yes ... [we’re] moving things up, but at the same time, we’re also doing an excellent job of convincing girls that while you can do it, you shouldn’t.” Ibid, page 12
See also Women in Science: What are the Obstacles? University of Wisconsin, Board of Regents, 24 March 2005