A new study from Wharton management professor Tiantian Yang finds that when women are rejected for contract jobs in male-dominated fields, specifically IT and computer programming, they are far less likely than men to continue looking for work in those industries. Post-rejection, women are also far more likely than men to seek jobs outside tech, and many stop looking for work altogether.

The loss is contributing to a “leaky pipeline” in STEM, where women and minorities enter those careers only to leave at some point, their ambition crushed by experiences of discrimination, isolation, or lack of opportunity. Although women have risen in STEM during the last few decades, the gender gap persists: Women account for only 28% of the global STEM workforce.

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