Reddit mentions of Women in Mathematics: The Addition of Difference (Race, Gender, and Science)

It certainly isn't easy. Top-down legislation and edicts can produce unpredictable results and well intentioned social engineering has unintended consequences betimes. However, that said, it's still the best option we have out of a host of bad ones. But that is only true if, and only if we are also doing that you say here:

>We need to encourage young girls (elementry/ middle school) to go into science,

It has to be worked on from both ends, the grassroots/parenting/primary school teacher level, and the top-down bureaucratic end. This particular 3/4ths quota in class size seems difficult to defend, however. What if not enough women apply? Does the class size as a whole have to be reduced? It seems unreasonable from that end. Better, in my view, would be programs on campus to drum up interest in the subjects for women.

There are a lot of fantastic women in science who've researched and written compelling books. I know that both Julia Serano and Anne Fausto Sterling got me seeing the very cool side of biology and its contemporary cutting edge research. Psychologists like Nancy Chodorow are also of great note. Here on Reddit, I think our resident neurologist Subtextual is a great role model and she plans to put together big websites someday. I was looking over this compelling book the other day in our Women's Studies library, and I feel promoting resources like this would remind women they do have a part to play and that there are trailblazers out there who've done some pretty fascinating things.

It's not going to be simple or quick, but I think that would work better than a strict classroom quota. It's part of a campaign that I think would help young women feel like math and science is 'for them' and 'theirs' too. Part of the issue is the perception (whose veracity varies depending on where you go but tends towards being true) that male-domination leads to a rough 'male culture' that'll leave women feeling perpetually like outsiders.

If women can claim ownership from a young age, it might give them more will to participate and change things.