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 Rise of Women in the Creative Class

Submitted by asklar on Tue, 11/08/2011 - 11:17am

Women have become an increasingly important force in the U.S. labor market and especially in its knowledge based creative economy. Some argue that the economic crisis has tilted the playing field away from men, who have borne the brunt of blue collar job losses, and towards women, who are more concentrated in knowledge and service work. Using data from the American Community Survey (ACS) of the U.S. Census Bureau, this report provides a numbers-driven look at the status of women in today’s job market, nationally and state-by-state (plus the District of Columbia). We develop a measure of the “location premium” states which provide for women overall and for women in the Creative Class.

URL:

http://www.martinprosperity.org/research-and-publications/publication/women-in-the-creative-class

Nearly Half of Students Experienced Sexual Harassment at School Last Year

Teaser:

Sexual harassment pervades the lives of students in grades 7–12, according to a report by the American Association of University Women (AAUW). Crossing the Line: Sexual Harassment at School, the most comprehensive, nationally representative research conducted in the past 10 years on sexual harassment in middle and high schools.

Editorial:

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) today released Crossing the Line: Sexual Harassment at School, the most comprehensive, nationally representative research conducted in the past 10 years on sexual harassment in middle and high schools.

Sexual harassment pervades the lives of students in grades 7–12. Nearly half of those surveyed reported that they had been harassed in the 2010–11 school year. Of that number, a majority (87 percent) said that being harassed had a negative effect on them. Among the responses, one-third said they did not want to go to school as a result of the harassment. Another third said they felt sick to their stomachs.

The prevalence of sexual harassment in middle and high school comes as a surprise to many, in part because it is rarely reported. Only about 9 percent of harassed students told a teacher, guidance counselor, or other adult at school about being sexually harassed.

"The AAUW report Crossing the Line: Sexual Harassment at School is a call to action to students, parents, teachers, and all of us who are concerned about the next generation," said AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman, CAE. "Many students feel sexual harassment is normal behavior, and often victims of sexual harassment in turn victimize other children. It's a vicious cycle that exacts an enduring emotional toll on students."

Included in the report are promising practices for how teachers, parents, and community groups in particular can help change the school climate.

"The good news is that the more we know about sexual harassment at school, the better we can combat it," said AAUW Director of Research and co-author Catherine Hill. "This report is nationally representative and provides fresh insight into this problem."

Creating, publicizing, and enforcing sexual harassment policies and adhering to the requirements of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 are other ways schools can bring attention to the issue and chip away at the problem.

"Our report clearly shows that, in many instances, we are failing to provide the safe environment necessary for our children to succeed," said Lisa Maatz, AAUW director of public policy and government relations. "Children and their families are too often left to fend for themselves when kids are harassed. Congress needs to strengthen federal protection for all students, regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, perceived gender identity, or religion."

On Tuesday, November 15, AAUW will host an event at the National Press Club on the topic featuring Rosalind Wiseman, an AAUW fellowship recipient, youth expert, and author of Queen Bees and Wannabes, the book that inspired the film Mean Girls; Kedrick Griffin, senior director of programs at Men Can Stop Rape; and Ileana Jiménez, educator at the Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School in New York.

Source:

American Association of University Women

URL:

http://www.aauw.org/media/pressreleases/crossingtheline_110711.cfm

Date:

November 7, 2011

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Crossing the Line (2011)

Submitted by asklar on Mon, 11/07/2011 - 11:21am

Based on findings from a nationally representative survey conducted in May and June, 2011, this report presents the most comprehensive research to date on sexual harassment in grades 7-12 and reveals some sobering statistics about the prevalence of sexual harassment and the negative impact it has on students' education.

The report concludes with concrete recommendations and promising practices for preventing sexual harassment directed at school administrators, educators, parents, students and community members.

URL:

http://www.aauw.org/learn/research/crossingtheline.cfm

Member Organization:

American Association of University Women

In other words: Communicating feminism

Teaser:

The Egyptian feminist organization, the Women and Memory Forum (WMF), published the first volume in their series of feminist translations, “Reader on Gender and Political Science,” in 2010. And they are anticipating the publication of the second, a "Reader on Feminism and Religious Studies," in the coming weeks. The inspiration for the project, according to WMF founding member Hala Kamal, came through the organization’s work in promoting women’s studies and feminism as an academic discipline in Egypt. Since its establishment in 1995, the mission of the group of women scholars has been to “produce and disseminate alternative knowledge about women in the Arab region” and to “reread Arab tradition and cultural history.”

Editorial:

From the article:

Though other institutions, such as Egypt’s National Center for Translation, have translated a number of feminist works on a case-by-case basis, the comprehensive effort to make scholarly feminist writings in English available to Arabic readers is unique.

The inspiration for the project, according to WMF founding member Hala Kamal, came through the organization’s work in promoting women’s studies and feminism as an academic discipline in Egypt. Since its establishment in 1995, the mission of the group of women scholars has been to “produce and disseminate alternative knowledge about women in the Arab region” and to “reread Arab tradition and cultural history.”

...

Source:

Almasry Alyoum

URL:

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/510846

Date:

November 3, 2011

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Faculty diversity means gains for female law students, according to study

Teaser:

Editorial:

From the article:

A study of law review membership indicates that gender and racial diversity on law school faculties may translate into more opportunities for female students.

Law schools with a high percentage of full-time women and minority faculty members on average had a larger percentage of female students on their flagship law reviews during the last academic year, according to New York Law School Law Review's 2010-11 Law Review Diversity Report.

"We know that law review membership has strong implications for postgraduation success in the legal field, and wanted to determine whether the composition of a school's faculty would have any impact on the success of female and minority students on law review," said Jamie Sinclair, a 3L at New York Law School who worked on the study with classmates Dana Brodsky, Maria Cheung, Kelly Garner, Jamie Sinclair and publisher Marcey Grigsby.

The study followed a 2010 report by Ms. JD, a nonprofit organization that seeks to advance women in the legal profession. The Ms. JD report looked at the law review membership and leadership at the top 50 law schools, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report. It found that on average, women accounted for 44 percent of law review membership at those top schools.

The New York Law School Law Review survey focused on law review membership at the 20 law schools with the highest percentages of full-time female faculty, and the 20 schools with the highest percentages of full-time minority faculty. Each of those schools fell outside U.S. News' top 50.

At schools with larger percentages of female faculty members, 52 percent of law review members were women. The figure was nearly 59 percent at the schools with high percentages of minority faculty. Whereas Ms. JD found that a mere 33 percent of law reviews at the top 50 law schools had a female editor in chief, that figure was 60 percent at the schools with many female faculty members and 46 percent at schools with high percentages of minority faculty.

"Getting into law school is only half the battle — for better or for worse, grades matter a lot, and law review membership is one of the most prominent indicators of academic achievement," said Brodsky. "Our survey shows a possible connection between the overall environment a school provides and the achievement of its women and minority students."

The study also indicated that law schools outside the top 50 provide women with a greater opportunity to obtain law review membership and serve in a leadership role, she said.

Contact Karen Sloan at ksloan@alm.com.

Source:

The National Law Journal

URL:

http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202522297808&Faculty_diversity_means_gains_for_female_law_students_according_to_study&slreturn=1

Date:

November 3, 2011

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

New York Law School Law Review Law Review Diversity Report

Submitted by asklar on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 10:06am

In 2011, the New York Law School Law Review launched its Law Review Diversity research project examining gender and minority diversity among law review membership and leadership at ABA law schools nationwide. This research builds upon the 2010 survey conducted by Ms. JD, an organization dedicated to the success of women in law school and the legal profession.

URL:

http://www.nylslawreview.com/diversity-report/

Report finds sexual harassment rife at ADFA

Teaser:

Interview with Australian sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick on the report on sexual harassment of women cadets at the Australian Defence Force Academy.

Editorial:

From the article:

MARK COLVIN: Almost three in every four young women cadets at the Australian Defence Force Academy say they've experienced some form of "unacceptable" sexual harassment there.

That 74 per cent finding comes from an independent inquiry into the academy, led by the sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick.

She began her independent review after male cadets secretly filmed a young woman at the academy having sex and the vision was broadcast over the internet.

Commissioner Broderick has made 31 recommendations to try and stamp out the problems.

She says that although problems exist at the academy, things have improved since the last thorough examination in the late 90s.

The sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick is speaking to our chief political correspondent, Sabra Lane.

...

Source:

ABC News (Australia)

URL:

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2011/s3355503.htm

Date:

November 3, 2011

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Fewer Nations Made Progress to Close Gender Gap: Study

Teaser:

Fewer countries made strides toward improving equality between men and women in 2011, while Nordic countries held the top spots, according to a ranking of 135 nations by the World Economic Forum.

Editorial:

From the article:

Fewer countries made strides toward improving equality between men and women this year, while Nordic countries held the top spots, according to a ranking of 135 nations by the World Economic Forum.

Iceland claimed the No. 1 position for the third year in a row, followed by Norway, Finland and Sweden, in the 2011 Global Gender Gap Index released today by the Geneva-based group. Of the countries surveyed, 55 percent narrowed the gender gap, compared with 59 percent the previous year, while 85 percent improved gender-equality ratios since the first survey in 2006.

“Women make up one-half of the brain power of the human capital that’s available to an economy,” Saadia Zahidi, head of the World Economic Forum’s Women Leaders and Gender Parity program and co-author of the report, said in an interview. “If that one-half is not fully integrated into a particular country’s development and into its development over time, it’s fairly evident that there would be a detrimental effect.”

The survey measures the difference between men’s and women’s economic participation and opportunities, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment. While differences in health and education are disappearing, women still lag behind in economic participation, which includes salaried and skilled jobs, and political representation, according to the report.

“Labor-force participation is where the success starts to drop off,” said Laura D’Andrea Tyson, a co-author of the report and professor at the University of California-Berkley, during a press briefing today about the study in New York.

...

Source:

Bloomberg

URL:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-01/fewer-nations-made-progress-on-reducing-gender-gap-study-says.html

Date:

November 2, 2011

Affiliate:

The Global Gender Gap Report 2011

Submitted by asklar on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 9:26am

The Global Gender Gap Index, introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006, is a framework for capturing the magnitude and scope of gender-based disparities and tracking their progress. The Index benchmarks national gender gaps on economic, political, education- and health-based criteria, and provides country rankings that allow for effective comparisons across regions and income groups, and over time. The rankings are designed to create greater awareness among a global audience of
the challenges posed by gender gaps and the opportunities created by reducing them. The methodology and quantitative analysis behind the rankings are intended to serve as a basis for designing effective measures for reducing gender gaps.

URL:

http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-2011/

Because I am a Girl: The State of the World’s Girls 2011 - So, what about boys?

Submitted by asklar on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:20am

'Because I am a Girl: The State of the World’s Girls 2011 - So, what about boys?’ is the fifth in a series of annual reports published by Plan examining the rights of girls throughout their childhood, adolescence and as young women.

The report shows that far from being an issue just for women and girls, gender is also about boys and men, and that this needs to be better understood if we are going to have a positive impact on societies and economies.

Drawing on research and case studies, the report argues that working for equality must involve men and boys both as holders of power and as a group that is also suffering the consequences of negative gender stereotypes.

It also makes recommendations for action, showing policy makers and planners what can make a real difference to girls’ lives all over the world.

URL:

http://plan-international.org/about-plan/resources/publications/campaigns/because-i-am-a-girl-so-what-about-boys

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