At Yen's lab at New York University, where she studies worms under a microscope after school, she can point out which ones are hermaphrodites.
Yen's career plans are set: She is pursuing a career in the sciences -- a field still dominated by men.
Overall, women make up nearly half the U.S. workforce. But they hold less than a quarter of the jobs in science, technology, engineering and math.
And those jobs pay well, too: The average annual income of a college-educated worker in the sciences is $74,000, compared to $59,000 for college grads in other fields, according to federal data. (Related: 25 top-paying jobs)
