Cloud computing offers dynamic, scalable, and virtualized computing resources to end users over the internet. Load balancing is crucial for efficient resource use, distributing workloads across multiple resources to prevent overloading. Load balancing is crucial for resource utilization and processing time reduction, but traditional algorithms are often stuck at local maxima, leading to unequal allocation and performance decline. A metaheuristic based algorithm is proposed to dynamically adjust load distribution, ensuring resilience and sensitivity to changing workloads while managing energy consumption. This research presents a Rock Hyrax-based load balancing algorithm that addresses local maxima and power efficiency issues using QoS parameters. The algorithm’s performance is evaluated qualitatively and statistically, considering both static and dynamic modes of jobs and virtual machines. Comparing it with existing scheduling algorithms, the algorithm reduces makespan by 10%–15% and total energy consumption in data centers by 8%–13%. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the Rock Hyrax-based load balancing algorithm in improving performance and energy efficiency in data centers, highlighting its potential impact on optimizing resource allocation and enhancing overall system performance.

The gender gap in STEM-related job positions is a fact, and it is closely related to the low percentage of women studying STEM degrees. This poses a problem because Europe, as well as the United States and the rest of the developed countries, keep demanding the best engineers and scientists to continue developing innovative products. This problem can thus be approached by answering, firstly, the following question: Why are women not studying STEM degrees? In this paper, we summarize the factors, found in literature, that influence students—both boys and girls—to not study STEM, particularly engineering, computer sciences and technology. We study these influence factors in a sample of N = 338 students from a secondary school placed in the south of Spain; we carry out a survey in order to find out if those students fill out the same answers other researchers have found and published in the related literature. Our main conclusions are as follows: The results confirm that the number of women in technical courses decreases when the level of the course increases; the lack of role models is not an impediment for girls to feel comfortable; unlike boys, girls will not choose engineering, even if their scoring in STEM is good; and we found that girls and women see themselves as not capable of studying an engineering degree more than boys and men do. These results contribute to a deeper understanding of the situation regarding the gender gap in STEM fields in ages in which both girls and boys must choose their future studies.