Removing barriers women in academic science technology engineering and mathematics 2006 carlos nava. Movement into academic science technology engineering and mathematics stem fields has been slow for women and minorities not only are women and minorities underrepresented in stem careers there is strong evidence that many academic departments are resistant to addressing the concerns that keep them from entering careers in these fields. In 2002 a national science foundation and university of iowa conference focused on retention of women in academic sciences technology engineering and mathematics stem a main objective was the opportunity to share information and develop possibilities for creating retention initiatives for programs benefiting women and minorities in . Removing barriers women in academic science technology engineer ing and mathematics edited by jill m bystydzienski and sharon r bird bloomington indiana university press 2006 pp 347 7500 cloth 2995 paper catherine riegle crumb university of texas austin in january 2005 while speaking at a conference on . 2008 removing barriers women in academic science technology engineering and mathematics naspa journal about women in higher education vol 1 no 1 pp 244 246