What is the primary reason that women are under-represented in STEM and is there a benefit to our society to try to level the gender representation in these fields?

I realize that you will likely get ideas from the Internet, but you should fuse them together with your own ideas and be very careful not to plagiarize any part of this assignment.

A very good submission would

have a clear thesis indicates the primary reason for a gender imbalance in STEM (with evidence and citations, of course);
explain the the impact or lack of impact caused by the imbalance (with evidence and citations);
take and defend a position about rectifying this imbalance.