The strongest plausible interpretation of their comment would count interest as a filter.

13 to 17 is older than middle school mostly. Preference at those ages is not evidence against social factors. The article said children lose interest in STEM careers as they get older. It referred to an MIT survey that found not having mentors or role models was a reason.

13 absolutely is middle school, and most 8th graders turn 14 during that school year. The point is that children have already exhibited the same disparity as we see in the tech industry by middle school. And I'm not really sure if they have a strong grasp on what the job really entails earlier than that. My niece wants to be an astronaut. She doesn't like math or science, but she wants to meet aliens and see their different styles of clothes and hobbies. If she were to change her stated interests in the future, I'm not sure if her underlying interests actually changed or if she just developed a better idea about what working in STEM really entails.

It's a loaded thing to say that girls "lose" interest in STEM, when it's unclear they even had that interest in the first place.

Yeah parental pressure is likely filtering Asian boys out of playing basketball