Ivanka Trump Says More Women in STEM Will Help Close the Pay Gap

Ivanka Trump said that encouraging more women and girls to pursue careers in STEM fields can help narrow the gender pay gap.

Around 50 CEOs met at the White House on Tuesday to discuss a variety of business-related topics, including workforce development. Trump, who officially joined her father’s administration as an adviser last month, appeared at the event to discuss the importance of encouraging women to pursue careers in math and science.

Trump cited the statistic that women only hold 24% of STEM careers. “When you think about where the jobs of the future are coming from, that’s a very frightening statistic. And we’re moving in the wrong direction,” she said. “It’s really important we think about the introduction of girls in STEM fields in our school system, making sure that they’re really participating in these fields. When we think about equal pay and the challenge we have to finally level the playing field, this will be a very important component.”

Last week, Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos gave a group of middle school students a tour of the National Air and Space Museum to encourage them and other young women to study science and math. But their visit was criticized because it came on the same day that President Donald Trump proposed a series of cuts for education and science programs.

Watch Trump’s full remarks above.