Kelly Mathews is on a mission—to get more girls interested in STEM.

That's science, technology, engineering, and math. And for Mathews, it begins at home with her 9-month old daughter, Marilyn.

That's why Mathews reads books like "Rosie Revere, Engineer" to Marilyn and stocks her nursery with other such books, like "HTML for Babies."

Mathews is a software engineer in Chalfont, Pennsylvania. She believes the earlier girls are introduced to these fields, the better the chance they might pursue careers in them.

That belief is gaining support in the education and business communities. The U.S. Department of Commerce estimates women make up less than 25 percent of the workforce in STEM-related jobs.

The acronym was coined by a member of the National Science Foundation in the 1990s.

Explore further New and updated resource on STEM education, workforce

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