Reducing the dropout rate of women in STEM careers is especially important because women in STEM jobs earn 33 percent more than those in non-STEM occupations and the wage gap between men and women in STEM jobs is smaller than inother fields.
Although they have branched out into otheroccupations, their distinctive trades, as in Europe, include scrap-metal dealing, car repair and fortune-telling.
Only if the pay given to teachers rises disproportionately to otheroccupations would one expect to see higher competition to join the teaching field in particular.