Education & Education Reform

Women and girls have made substantial progress in educational attainment. Today in the US women receive more than half of all college degrees – and have almost achieved parity with men in advanced degrees in law, medicine and other disciplines. But several gaps persist, and more importantly, disparities remain among diverse women according to race, income, immigrant status and other socio-economic factors. Improving access to quality education for all students including adolescent girls and mothers needs to become a national and global priority. Explore the resources listed below, including Related Categories links, or use the Keyword Search for more information.

The State of Women of Color in the United States

Submitted by asklar on Wed, 07/18/2012 - 10:05am

Issue brief from the Center for American Progress:

This issue brief examines the state of women of color in the United States at large in regards to four key areas: the workplace wage gap, health, educational attainment, and political leadership. While conversations in the mainstream media would suggest that women of color are a monolithic entity, it is important to note that women of color are a diverse group with a variety of experiences. We offer specific data points on various racial and ethnic groups where available as we present the issues of greatest importance to women of color today, but remember that data are not always available for direct comparisons of different groups of women of color compared to their white counterparts.

URL:

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/07/women_of_color_brief.html

Why 6-Year-Old Girls Want to Be Sexy

Teaser:

A new study of elementary-school-aged girls by researchers at Knox College finds that girls as young as 6 are already beginning to think of themselves as sex objects.

Editorial:

From LiveScience:

Researchers have shown in the past that women and teens think of themselves in sexually objectified terms, but the new study is the first to identify self-sexualization in young girls. The study, published online July 6 in the journal Sex Roles, also identified factors that protect girls from objectifying themselves.

Psychologists at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., used paper dolls to assess self-sexualization in 6- to 9-year-old girls. Sixty girls were shown two dolls, one dressed in tight and revealing "sexy" clothes and the other wearing a trendy but covered-up, loose outfit.

Using a different set of dolls for each question, the researchers then asked each girl to choose the doll that: looked like herself, looked how she wanted to look, was the popular girl in school, she wanted to play with.

Across-the-board, girls chose the "sexy" doll most often. The results were significant in two categories: 68 percent of the girls said the doll looked how she wanted to look, and 72 percent said she was more popular than the non-sexy doll.

[...]

Source:

LiveScience

URL:

http://www.livescience.com/21609-self-sexualization-young-girls.html

Date:

July 18, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Women Beat Men on IQ Tests For First Time

Teaser:

New Zealand-based researcher James Flynn finds that women are now scoring higher on IQ tests than men.

Editorial:

From ABC News:

The author of the study, James Flynn, a New Zealand-based researcher known as an IQ testing expert, said that over the past century, women have lagged slightly behind men in IQ testing scores, at times by as much as five points. But now, Flynn said women have closed the gap and even inched ahead in this battle of the intelligent sexes.

“Over the last 100 years, everyone in the developing world has been gaining about three IQ points, but women have been gaining faster,” Flynn told ABC News. “This is the result of modernity. In every country where women have an equal chance of modernity, women have caught men [in IQ testing].”

Flynn has not yet published the results of his study, saving that for a book he will publish in September. But he told ABC News that he collected data from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Estonia and Argentina on scores on a standard IQ test, called the Raven test. Each country tested at least 500 men and 500 women, most between the ages of 15 and 18, Flynn said.

[...]

Source:

ABC News

URL:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/07/16/women-beat-men-on-iq-tests-for-first-time/

Date:

July 18, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

More women may suffer from math anxiety than men

Teaser:

A University of Cambridge and University of Oxford study discovered that children who suffered from mathematics anxiety performed worse on math problems, affecting their performance. Girls suffered more math anxiety, even when they performed well.

Editorial:

From CBS News:

In a University of Cambridge and University of Oxford study that looked at 433 British schoolchildren, researchers discovered that those who suffered from mathematics anxiety performed worse on math problems, affecting their performance. The study was published in Behavioral and Brain Functions on July 9.

Overall, more girls were affected by math anxiety than the boys. However, there were no gender differences in performance even if the girls dreaded doing math more. Researchers concluded that girls may be able to do even better in math if it wasn't for their anxiety levels.

"These results might suggest that girls may have had the potential to perform better than boys in mathematics, however, their performance may have been attenuated by higher levels of (mathematics anxiety)," the study authors wrote.

[...]

Source:

CBS News

URL:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57469718-10391704/more-women-may-suffer-from-math-anxiety-than-men/

Date:

July 16, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

State of Public School Sex Segregation in the United States (2007-2010)

Submitted by asklar on Thu, 07/05/2012 - 10:33am

In connection with Title IX's 40th Anniversary in June 2012, the Feminist Majority Foundation released a multi-year (2007-10) three part study of single-sex education in U.S. K-12 public schools. This study reveals that after the Bush Department of Education weakened previous Title IX restrictions on sex segregated education in K-12 public schools in 2006, over 1,000 public schools sex segregated at least some of their classes. Read the complete Press Release here and view the report below.

URL:

http://www.feminist.org/education/sexsegregation.asp

Member Organization:

The Feminist Majority Foundation

President Obama Reflects on the Impact of Title IX

Teaser:

On the 40th anniversary of the law that ended gender discrimination in schools, President Barack Obama reflects on how Title IX shaped a generation of strong women.

Editorial:

From Newsweek:

Coaching my daughter Sasha’s basketball team is one of those times when I just get to be “Dad.” I snag rebounds, run drills, and have a little fun. More importantly, I get to watch Sasha and her teammates improve together, start thinking like a team, and develop self-confidence.

Any parent knows there are few things more fulfilling than watching your child discover a passion for something. And as a parent, you’ll do anything to make sure he or she grows up believing she can take that ambition as far as she wants; that your child will embrace that quintessentially American idea that she can go as far as her talents will take her.

But it wasn’t so long ago that something like pursuing varsity sports was an unlikely dream for young women in America. Their teams often made do with second-rate facilities, hand-me-down uniforms, and next to no funding.

[...]

Source:

Newsweek/The Daily Beast

URL:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/06/24/president-obama-reflects-on-the-impact-of-title-ix.html

Date:

June 25, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Toward Gender Equality in East Asia and the Pacific

Submitted by asklar on Mon, 06/25/2012 - 9:38am

Report from the World Bank.

URL:

http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/2012/06/17/toward-gender-equality-in-east-asia-and-the-pacific

A Pregnancy Test for Schools: The Impact of Education Laws on Pregnant and Parenting Students

Submitted by asklar on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 12:25am

Parenthood is not the end of the road for teen moms. Quite to the contrary, motherhood can serve as an educational motivator for many young women. Unfortunately, educational barriers and discrimination often thwart this drive and determination. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is the landmark law that bans sex discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities. Despite Title IX’s prohibition against sex discrimination, there are schools across the country that continue to bar pregnant and parenting students from activities, kick them out of school, pressure them to attend alternative programs, and penalize them for pregnancy-related absences.

URL:

http://www.nwlc.org/reports-overview/pregnancy-test-schools-impact-education-laws-pregnant-and-parenting-students

Member Organization:

National Women's Law Center

Community College Partnerships for Student and Career Success: Program Profile of Carreras en Salud

Submitted by asklar on Wed, 06/20/2012 - 11:16am

Postsecondary students with children often need an array of supports to succeed in their studies, which can require significant coordination among new and existing services (Conway, Blair, and Helmer 2012; Henrici n.d.; Miller, Gault, and Thorman 2011). Such supports might include financial aid, academic and career counseling, job placement assistance, transportation, housing, child care, and classes in English-as-a-Second Language. To more effectively provide an expanded range of student resources, community colleges often partner with local nonprofits, private businesses and foundations, and government institutions (Altstadt 2011; Bragg et al. 2007; Bray, Painter, and Rosen 2011; Conway, Blair, and Helmer 2012; Leutz 2007; Singh 2007; Wilson 2010).

URL:

http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/community-college-partnerships-for-student-and-career-success-program-profile-of-carreras-en-salud

Member Organization:

Institute for Women’s Policy Research

U.S. Girl Scouts seek more Latinas

Teaser:

As the Girl Scouts organization enters its second century, it hopes to continue a trend of the past decade by recruiting more Latinas to become members and troop leaders.

Editorial:

From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

The Girl Scouts have set a goal of increasing membership by 1 million in the next five years, said Anna Maria Chávez, CEO for Girl Scouts of the USA. Hispanic membership, which has risen 55 percent in the past decade, would be a key driver of that growth.

“To be here today to talk about where we are now as a movement brings me almost to tears, because for 100 years, we have taken our mission to heart,” Chávez told about 300 people gathered at SeaWorld for a Hispanic community breakfast.

Before her speech, Chávez chatted with a group of scouts who served as color guard during the morning event. Chávez gave each girl her personal patch, which bears her name and nickname, “Eagle 1.” The girls said they couldn’t wait to add them to their uniforms.

“She said that only the girls who meet her get the patch,” said Melanie Kellis, 10, of Troop 5260.

Just a week ago, Chávez was in Washington, D.C., where thousands gathered on the National Mall to celebrate the Girl Scouts centennial.

She also met with President Barack Obama in the White House. Chávez pointed out to him that several Cabinet members and 70 percent of the women in Congress had been Girl Scouts. She also told him that the U.S. currently has 59 million Girl Scouts alumni, a number that seemed to surprise him.

“Absolutely, Mr. President. Not only that, they vote,” Chávez remembered saying to Obama.

[...]

Source:

San Diego Union-Tribune

URL:

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jun/16/tp-us-girl-scouts-seek-more-latinas/

Date:

June 19, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

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NCRW is a network of leading university and community based research, policy, and advocacy centers with a growing global reach dedicated to advancing rights and opportunities for women and girls. We also have a Corporate Circle comprised of senior diversity professionals from leading U.S. and global member companies and a Presidents Circle of college and university leaders who share our commitment. NCRW harnesses the collective power of its network to provide knowledge, analysis, and thought leadership on issues ranging from reducing women’s poverty to building a critical mass of women’s leadership across sectors.

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