Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM)

"Long before Facebook introduced its hot new Social Graph app, researchers in the ADVANCE project at NJIT were pioneering the use of social network mapping to help women scientists and engineers supercharge their career. 

"The question of why women are so underrepresented in math-intensive fields is a controversial one. Two psychological scientists have reviewed all of the evidence and concluded that the main factor is women's choices—both freely made, such as that they'd rather study biology than math, and constrained, such as the fact that the difficult first years as a professor coincide with the time when many women are having children.

Psychological scientists Stephen Ceci and Wendy Williams of Cornell University set out to understand the differences between men and women in math-intensive fields such as physics, electrical engineering, computer science, economics, and chemistry. In the top 100 U.S. universities, only 9% to 16% of tenure-track positions in these kinds of fields are held by women.

Williams and Ceci also reviewed research on sex discrimination and decided that it is no longer a major factor. In fact, one large-scale national study found that women are actually slightly more likely than men to be invited to interview for and to be offered tenure-track jobs in math-intensive STEM fields. Instead, Williams and Ceci think the problem is that women actually choose not to go into math-heavy fields, or drop out once they have started."
 

"After Title IX was passed in 1972, women made monumental strides in higher-level education and now account for 50 percent or more of students in every field of study — as long as engineering is not included on that list.

The national average of women majoring in engineering is a meager 18 percent, said Cathy Pieronek, the assistant dean of academic affairs in engineering at the University of Notre Dame.  When Pieronek and other officials at Notre Dame's College of Engineering realized the extent of the gender gap in 2002, they took steps to improve the situation.

In the past eight years, Notre Dame increased the percentage of women in the College of Engineering from 22 percent to 30 percent in this year's freshman class. Pieronek said this number is especially impressive when compared to the national average and percentages at other universities.

Pieronek said, however, the College of Engineering at Notre Dame is graduating more women thanks in large part to a dual program with neighboring Saint Mary's College.  The program, which was formalized in 2005 but existed since the early 1970s, allows a Saint Mary's student to take pre-engineering classes starting her sophomore year at the college, while concurrently earning a degree in mathematics or one of the sciences. At the end of her four years, she graduates from Saint Mary's with a bachelor's degree in her selected major and then enrolls at Notre Dame for a fifth year in the College of Engineering."

"A new survey revealing that professional women in science and engineering have experienced a high rate of gender-based discrimination, harassment and continuing pay inequality in their fields in Australia is hardly news. The survey of 1100 female members of the Australian Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers is a reminder that any bid to diversify and expand the workforce in these fields so as to stimulate research and development and the knowledge economy has to be systemic in its design.

It has to prioritise reform and innovation with respect to workplace conditions and access to flexibility; workplace cultures and discrimination; and career development and pay equity.

Many initiatives have been undertaken to promote engineering and science as career choices to young people and especially young women, and these are being strengthened to increase skilled technology capacity and to extend the lifelong benefits of such choices to students of a lower socioeconomic background."

"Today marks the 38th anniversary of Title IX, a law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in all levels of education. The legislation, which was originally passed in 1972, reads: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." While most widely known for increasing women's participation in high school and college athletics, women�s rights advocates now hope to use Title IX to increase gender equity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, among other areas.

Currently, there are two bills in Congress that would enable stronger enforcement of Title IX in athletics. The High School Athletics Accountability Act (H.R. 2882) and its Senate counterpart the High School Sports Information Collection Act (S. 471), would require the information and statistics on gender equity in school athletic programs be made available to the public."