Apple CEO Tim Cook urged women to enter science and engineering fields or else the country will lose its place at the forefront of the tech industry.
Cook, during an interview with Auburn University paper The Auburn Plainsman Thursday, decried the gender disparity in STEM careers throughout the United States.
"I think the U.S. will lose its leadership in technology if this doesn't change," he said. "Women are such an important part of the workforce. If STEM-related fields continue to have this low representation of women, then there just will not be enough innovation in the United States. That's just the simple fact of it."
Auburn admitted twice as many men as women to its undergraduate industrial engineering program, and three times as many men in the graduate program. According to Auburn, just 17.1 percent of American industrial engineers are women.
"The job growth in STEM fields will outpace all other by a fair amount for the foreseeable future," Cook added.
"The reality is, you'll end up having a whole set of jobs that aren't filled. You'll lose talented workforce that should exist. I think it's imperative for the whole country to get behind changing that."
Ivanka Trump, daughter of and adviser to President Donald Trump, said this week that promoting STEM fields to women and girls could "level the playing field" in regards to equal pay.
"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," she said at the White House Tuesday, according to Time Magazine.
"When we think about equal pay and the challenge we have to finally level the playing field, this will be a very important component."
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