More than 50% of America's population is female. That means that 50% of our leaders and public figures ought to be women. However, that is not currently the case.

Could it happen in the next generation? Not unless we do something to encourage girls to strive to excel. Studies have shown that girls impose their own glass ceilings on themselves by opting out of rigorous classes such as math and science. Being smart and successful is not seen as compatible with being feminine or popular.

Dare To Dream targets girls at the age where this process begins: in middle school. We expose girls to successful female role models. Instead of treating successful women as unique, Dare to Dream shows that successful woman are becoming a large and ever growing segment of the population. By featuring women from every walk of life and across every profession, we make strong, successful women into a desirable stereotype and inspire girls to follow in their footsteps.

In 1998 an international science test ranked the United States in the bottom seven countries of the world with Iran, Iraq, and South Africa. Meanwhile an American Association of University Women study in October of 1998 revealed that girls are imposing their own glass ceiling by opting out of technology courses. At best girls were taking word processing while boys took computer programming. In May of 2000, computer literate colleges graduates were fielding multiple job offers with starting salaries of $50,000 to $75,000. Some offered signing bonuses of $7500. Yet in the summer of 2000, immigration quotas were re-lifted to allow enough technology workers into the United States to fill the existing high tech jobs. Wouldn't it be nice to fill those good paying jobs with our own citizens--the female majority?

Leonardo da Vinci is one of my favorite heroes. He was an artist, a dreamer, a designer, invented scientific and medical illustrations, and envisioned the airplane although he could not make it fly. His credo was science = art = science. I cannot name a woman hero from that time period. However, I can name many today. If our young women are aware of these role models and are inspired by them, they are on their way to a great future, and we as a country take a step farther away from the welfare state. We cannot afford to waste a single brain, certainly not 50% of the available talent in America. We need to Dare to Dream.