There are very few women in science and technology fields because:
A) Girls can't do well in math and science subjects.
B) Science and Tech Fields are misogynistic Good Old Boys Clubs.
C) All men hate women.
D) Women just don't care about math and science - they care about fashion and babies.
E) Teachers, professors and employers don't understand how they shut girls out and they need some education.
A recent National Academies report, Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering, found that women repeatedly face biases in academia in the science fields, and that these barriers to success discourage them from careers in these areas. In response to this report, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) recently introduced the Gender Bias Elimination Act (H.R. 3514).
Women are capable of contributing more to the nation's science and engineering research enterprise, but bias and outmoded practices governing academic success impede their progress almost every step of the way, said Donna E. Shalala, president of the University of Miami, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and chair of the committee that wrote the report. Fundamental changes in the culture and opportunities at America's research universities are urgently needed. The United States should enhance its talent pool by making the most of its entire population.
This important piece of legislation directly addresses concerns raised in the National Academies report by authorizing workshops that educate university department chairs, agency program officers, and others on reducing and eliminating gender bias for women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Under this act, agencies that fund scientific research-like the National Institute of Health and the National Science Foundation-will also be directed to better enforce existing federal anti-discrimination laws (including Title IX), assess the workplace climate, publish demographic and funding data for grant applications, and extend grant support for researchers on leave for caregiving duties.
Declining interest in science and a shortage of American scientists is a threat to American competitiveness on a national scale, problems that are exacerbated by the low numbers of women and girls from STEM fields. The Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology's report Professional Women and Minorities states that women now comprise 25 percent of the labor force in STEM fields. If women and members of other traditionally underrepresented groups joined the STEM workforce in proportion to their representation in the overall labor force, the shortage of STEM professionals would disappear.
Join the American Association of University Women in supporting, promoting and strengthening STEM education, especially for women and other underrepresented populations in the fields. AAUW believes this legislation remove barriers to success and encourage more women to choose careers in STEM fields.
Be a Two-Minute Activist by following this link to write your legislatures to support this bill.
Our daughters deserve to have all choices open and available to them.
3 comments:
I noticed you used the "wordpress" people's pic. Maybe if they hired more women my blog would be easier to use. I can't get anything to show up in my sidebar...
Yeah, so what? This article is written from the wrong perspective, at least some of the quotes are from the wrong perspective. Try this perspective on: Do women need to contribute more to the sciences, I'd say yes. Call it discrimination if you want, but as far as I can tell people are given a choice as to what to study in school. Do you want to start some type of force program whereby women are forced into the sciences...I don't think that would go over well, but it may be needed. Honestly, I think the sciences need more women, not to mention more people in general. In our society we pay people just as much to sell medicine (low skill level) as we do to those who actually have the knowledge of the medicine and practice it (high skill level). Maybe our priorities are a bit out of whack. Maybe people have lost the desire to learn for the sake of learning, and all they think about when they think what they should study is, "Am I going to be able to make money off of this knowledge in my life." Then, when women are taught their social constructs as women, they don't seem to see a need to become a physicist if they are going to be a mother. In my opinion women need just as much, if not more, knowledge about the world we live in - especially if they are going to be a mother. Rather, in our short-minded society, people think only of profit - women put off children for a high-paying job, as if the level of their pay is worth more than being a mother – and they only take classes that will help them with their high-paying job. Their focus is entirely upon money. Then they stick their children in day care. Who's in that day care center - a bunch of scientists? Absolutely not! Just people that only studied what they had to learn to earn their day care merit badge. What we need are mothers that care for their own children and are some of the most educated people on the planet at the same time. If we had this in society - we'd have the most intelligent, fair, impartial, and wealthy society on the planet - HANDS DOWN!
More women in science? It is imperative, not just a nice idea!
The problem is we focus too much on money when it comes to education. We need to focus more on learning and trying to understand the world around us. Money is short-sided – as what pays well now will not necessarily pay well into the future. Yet, we define ourselves based upon what the world pays us, or promises to pay us in a few years time. This is a necessity, but it does not need to be the focus of our lives. Think longer-term. In the longer-term, the more women we have in science – the better off we will be as a society. This is an actual FACT!.
Okay, I guess we agree then. We need more women in science.
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