Pearce Jarrett is a machine learning engineer and founder of Gwaan, a motivational fitness app that uses AI technology. The 28-year-old began the app 18 months ago and it has since won a UKRI Young Innovators Award. Fewer than 2% of academic staff working in science, technology, engineering and maths are black according to new figures from UK universities. The British Science Association is calling for better representation in the UK workforce as part of British Science week.

It's International Women's Day, a day to celebrate the achievements of women around the world and throughout history. But the day is also about recognizing the hardships women face, and the continued urgency of the fight for gender equality. That is true of WIRED's world, too--the world of technology and science, of media and innovation. Though this magazine was co-founded by a woman, and women have been key figures in every part of scientific and technological progress, men's narratives still dominate. Men still hold more STEM jobs.

Here's a depressing number for you: 12. Just 12 percent of engineers in the United States are women. In computing it's a bit better, where women make up 26 percent of the workforce--but that number has actually fallen from 35 percent in 1990. The United States has a serious problem with getting women into STEM jobs and keeping them there. Silicon Valley and other employers bear the most responsibility for that: Discrimination, both overt and subtle, works to keep women out of the workforce. But this society of ours also perpetuates gender stereotypes, which parents pass on to their kids.

The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts is updating its image with a number of new achievement badges aimed at encouraging young women into science and technology. My memories of the Girl Guides involve marshmallow toasting, tying knots and being assessed on my table-laying skills for a badge no doubt long-consigned to the archives. Fast forward some 25 years and it's clear much as changed. In an international organisation that liaises with Google and Microsoft among others, today's young guides are just as likely to be gathered round an engineering bench as a campfire. Sixteen-year-old Catherine Young is on a mission to boost girls' interest in engineering and has found the Girl Guides a valuable platform for her campaign.