Encouraging girls to enter the STEM fields

For a couple of decades now there has been a constant and almost cult-like campaign to get "women into STEM". They keep repeating over and over and over like a mantra that girls should be encouraged to enter the STEM fields, that we absolutely need more women in STEM, that it's of the utmost importance. Thus tons and tons of effort and money is poured into brainwashing girls to enter the STEM fields, and to enroll into universities, up to the point that in many countries there's actually a gender imbalance, with a sizeable majority of university students being women.

At no point, however, have I ever seen a rational reason for this. Why should women be specifically and particularly encouraged into the STEM fields?

With this, rather obviously, I don't mean that they should be stopped from doing so, or discouraged, or that additional hurdles should be put in their way. What I mean, which should be quite clear even without having to state it, is that no particular emphasis should be put into encouraging precisely girls into the STEM fields. Just present and teach the basics of STEM to everybody, and let those students who are naturally inclined and interested in them take the more advanced courses, enroll in universities and their STEM departments, and so on. Present, teach, allow students to make their own choices based on their own interests and inclinations, with no special pressure or indoctrination.

All these people seem to consider it somehow self-evident why girls should be especially encouraged to enter the STEM fields. They seem to think that it really doesn't need a rational explanation because it's such a self-evident thing. And, of course, in the current political climate, this mentality has become so extreme that if you even question why it's necessary, you are immediately labeled a misogynist sexist bigot, and all the names in the book... you know, rather than giving an actual reason.

So, I once again ask: Why should girls be especially encouraged into the STEM fields (rather than just allowing them to enter them by their own unbiased choice)?

Many critics have pointed out how detrimental this campaign is for the teaching of STEM, especially the more advanced topics and courses. These advanced topics need both interest and a natural talent from their students. If you are not interested in the subject, it will quickly start going over your head, you will not understand anything, you will get bored and you will either drop out or just fail all the exams.

The more people who aren't actually interested in these subjects are being convinced that they should enter anyway, the higher the dropout numbers will be. And this is exactly what's happening in many universities. The dropout percentages have been increasing, the number of students who pass these courses is decreasing, and consequently the funding that these advanced science departments are getting is likewise decreasing.

So, once again: Why should girls be especially encouraged into the STEM fields? For what purpose? Can anybody give me an actual rational practical reason, other than a reason based on politics and ideology?

Because that's another problem that arises with this campaign: These STEM fields are being more and more infected with identity politics and ideology, which have absolutely nothing to do with the topics of those fields, and are completely detrimental to them, and a big reason for this infestation is because more and more students are enrolling there for ideological reasons, rather than practical ones, rather than from genuine personal interest and talent.

If it were up to me, this campaign to get girls into STEM fields would immediately and completely stop, right now. It achieves nothing useful, and has no reason to exist. It exists purely for ideological reasons, not for practical reasons, and it's detrimental. Let students make their own life choices. Don't try to make those choices for them.