Two studies on women in STEM careers have recently come out.
The first study argues that the reason more women don’t go into STEM careers is not about ability, but choice. Women who have high math scores also tend to have really high verbal scores and have a lot of choice about what they do, career wise.
This is followed by another study that says while the gender gap has closed, academia still hires a lot more men as scientists and pays them significantly more.
Which kind of answers the question of why women with choices might not choose science.