Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2990469 11 MACHINE LEARNING AND MEANINGFUL CAREERS: INCREASING THE NUMBER OF WOMEN IN STEM SARAH F. HOFFMAN sarahfhoffman@gmail.com Independent Researcher HERSHEY H. FRIEDMAN x.friedman@att.net Department of Business Management, Murray Koppelman School of Business, Brooklyn College, The City University of New York ABSTRACT. Meaningful work that gives one a sense of purpose is of great importance to young people who are entering the workforce, especially women. They are even willing to earn less money, provided that they work at a meaningful job. Only 17.9% of computer science graduates are female. More women might enter this field if they are made aware of the meaningful nature of the work. Computer science is an ideal major for students who want to improve the world and make it a better place. The authors examine the literature, and demonstrate how numerous areas including health care, education, the military, environmental studies, and crime prevention are being transformed by technology, especially newer technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. Keywords: meaningful work; artificial intelligence; machine learning; education; computer science; diversity; cyberwarfare. Introduction According to the National Girls Collaborative Project, women earned 57.3% of bachelor’s degrees in all fields in 2013 and 50.3% of science and engineer- ing bachelor’s degrees. However, while women receive over half of bachelor’s degrees awarded in the biological sciences, they receive far fewer in the computer sciences (17.9%), engineering (19.3%), physical sciences (39%) and mathematics (43.1%) (National Girls Collaborative Project, 2016). Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2990469