A new survey commissioned by Microsoft (MSFT) found that young girls in Europe become interested in so-called STEM subjects around the age of 11 and then quickly lose interest when they're 15.

"Conformity to social expectations, gender stereotypes, gender roles and lack of role models continue to channel girls' career choices away from STEM fields," said psychology professor Martin Bauer of the London School of Economics, who helped coordinate the survey of 11,500 girls across 12 European countries.

The survey also found that girls' interest in humanities subjects drops around the same age but then rebound sharply. Interest in STEM subjects does not recover.

"This means that governments, teachers and parents only have four or five years to nurture girls' passion before they turn their backs on these areas, potentially for good," Microsoft said...

To read the full article by Alanna Petroff, visit CNN Money.