The White House cares about gender balance in academia

For reals; check out this article from Science Insider.

The White House today announced a series of steps that NSF will take to keep women from having to make a choice between work and home. "Too many women give up because of conflicts between their desire to start a family and their desire to ramp-up their careers," said John Holdren, the president's science adviser and head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. He said that flexible workplace rules are good for the economy because they attract better workers, reduce turnover, and increase productivity. "It's not just the right thing to do, it's also the smart thing to do," noted Tina Tchen, chief of staff to First Lady Michelle Obama and head of the White House Council on Women and Girls.

Wow, pretty cool!