Women in STEM

Over the last 30 years, the number of women earning bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in math and science has increased significantly. This success has been largely due to the work of educational institutions, foundations, professional networks and research and advocacy organizations. Yet despite these efforts, a huge gap still exists between the numbers of women and men pursuing advanced studies and careers in science – especially in physics, chemistry, engineering, computer science and technology. Schools, colleges, the technology sector and businesses, as well as other sectors, need to intensify efforts to recruit and retain talented women in STEM fields. Advancement for women not only diversifies the workforce, but also provides gender balance in setting research goals, developing new product lines and enhancing innovative and strategic decision-making.

2010 NCRW Member Center Award Winners in Research, Advocacy, and Diversity

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NCRW Member Center Awards 2010

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Project shows benefits of applying sex and gender analysis in research

Teaser:

Gendered Innovations in Science, Health & Medicine and Engineering at Stanford University has developed 11 methods for integrating sex and gender analysis into research projects, and 14 case studies demonstrating the benefits of using them.

Editorial:

From Stanford University News:

Since Schiebinger launched the Gendered Innovations project in the summer of 2009, the project has produced 14 case studies to demonstrate how applying sex and gender analysis to research studies has helped create new knowledge and technologies.

The project was initiated with start-up funding from Stanford's Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research. Schiebinger, a former director of the Clayman Institute, is the editor of the 2008 book, Gendered Innovations in Science and Engineering.

All the project's peer-reviewed case studies can be found on its website, including:

Stem Cells: Analyzing Sex
Animal Research: Designing Health and Biomedical Research
De-Gendering the Knee: Overemphasizing Sex Differences as a Problem
Heart Disease in Women: Formulating Research Questions
Pregnant Crash Test Dummies: Rethinking Standards and Reference Models
Water: Participatory Research and Design

"The website is a resource for researchers," Schiebinger said. "It's globally accessible and freely available to anyone with an Internet connection.

An international cast of contributors

The Gendered Innovations project was developed through six international workshops. In 2011, the European Union joined the project, followed by the U.S. National Science Foundation in 2012.

"The project was created through a unique international collaboration of scientists, engineers and gender experts," Schiebinger said.

[...]

Source:

Stanford University News

URL:

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/july/gender-analysis-science-072612.html

Date:

July 27, 2012

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Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation

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A View From The Future, a leadership forum and breakfast, screening of BWAF’s documentary film, A Girl Is a Fellow Here – 100 Women in the Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright, at the Royal Institute of British Architects and at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

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Despina Stratigakos, "Unforgetting Women Architects: From the Pritzker to Wikipedia." Places Journal. June 3, 2013.

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Career Opportunity: BWAF Director

The new director will provide strategic leadership, creative vision and direction for the Foundation, helping it implement its core programs and reach its full potential as the nation’s foremost source for historical and current data and research about women in architecture and related fields. BWAF programs reach thousands of professionals, educators and students around the nation.

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Sally Ride, First American Woman In Space, Is Dead

Teaser:

Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, died at 61 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Editorial:

From NPR:

In 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. She blasted off aboard Challenger, culminating a long journey that started in 1977 when the Ph.D. candidate answered an ad seeking astronauts for NASA missions.

In a lecture she gave at Berkeley, Ride said she saw the ad on Page 3 of the student newspaper.

"The moment I saw that ad, I knew that's what I wanted to do," she said.

Ride died today in La Jolla, Calif., after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, her company said on its website.

She was 61.

According to her official biography, by the time Ride decided to apply to become an astronaut, she had already received degrees in physics and English and was on her way to a Ph.D. in physics from Stanford University.

[...]

Source:

NPR

URL:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/07/23/157250870/sally-ride-first-american-woman-in-space-is-dead

Date:

July 24, 2012

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Israel Existential Crisis Creates Haredi Breadwomen as Men Study

Teaser:

Editorial:

From Business Week:

Ultra-orthodox, or haredi, women are joining the Israeli labor force in increasing numbers and many are choosing to work in technology, attracted in part by the industry’s willingness to accommodate their religious lifestyle. While that has helped keep jobs that might otherwise have gone offshore, their husbands’ joblessness is a drag on economic growth, according to the Bank of Israel and the International Monetary Fund.

“A continued increase in the share of the population which does not participate in the workforce cannot continue forever, and so will have to stop,” Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer said earlier this year. The imbalance has to be corrected for the health of the economy, he added. The central bank predicts growth will slow to 3.1 percent this year from 4.8 percent in 2010 and 2011.

While the ultra-Orthodox make up about 8 percent to 10 percent of the population, they will represent 17 percent of working-age Israelis in 20 years because of their high birth rate, according to the bank. By the late 2050s they will account for a quarter of the population, a March 9 IMF report found.

[...]

Source:

Bloomberg Business Week

URL:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-27/israel-existential-crisis-creates-haredi-breadwomen-as-men-study

Date:

June 28, 2012

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Meet China’s First Female Astronaut—Maybe

Teaser:

China is going to send a woman into space for the first time.

Editorial:

From The Wall Street Journal:

The mission, announced just a few days ago, is moving forward rapidly: The Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft to be used in the mission has already been strapped to its carrier rocket and the rocket already moved to the launch pad at a satellite launch center in northwest China.

All that remains is to choose the woman who will be on board when spacecraft shoots skyward.

On Tuesday, in what may or may not be a sign that the decision has been made, the state-run China Daily published a profile of 34-year-old fighter pilot Liu Yang, one of the two candidates tipped as the most likely to go where no Chinese woman has gone before.

[...]

Source:

The Wall Street Journal

URL:

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/06/13/meet-chinas-first-female-astronaut%E2%80%94maybe/

Date:

June 13, 2012

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Gender Differences in the Salaries of Physician Researchers

Teaser:

Researchers find that, all other things equal, female physicians still make approximately $12,000 per year less than their male counterparts.

Editorial:

Context It is unclear whether male and female physician researchers who perform similar work are currently paid equally.

Objectives To determine whether salaries differ by gender in a relatively homogeneous cohort of physician researchers and, if so, to determine if these differences are explained by differences in specialization, productivity, or other factors.

Design and Setting A US nationwide postal survey was sent in 2009-2010 to assess the salary and other characteristics of a relatively homogeneous population of physicians. From all 1853 recipients of National Institutes of Health (NIH) K08 and K23 awards in 2000-2003, we contacted the 1729 who were alive and for whom we could identify a mailing address.

Participants The survey achieved a 71% response rate. Eligibility for the present analysis was limited to the 800 physicians who continued to practice at US academic institutions and reported their current annual salary.

Main Outcome Measures A linear regression model of self-reported current annual salary was constructed considering the following characteristics: gender, age, race, marital status, parental status, additional graduate degree, academic rank, leadership position, specialty, institution type, region, institution NIH funding rank, change of institution since K award, K award type, K award funding institute, years since K award, grant funding, publications, work hours, and time spent in research.

Results The mean salary within our cohort was $167 669 (95% CI, $158 417-$176 922) for women and $200 433 (95% CI, $194 249-$206 617) for men. Male gender was associated with higher salary (+$13 399; P = .001) even after adjustment in the final model for specialty, academic rank, leadership positions, publications, and research time. Peters-Belson analysis (use of coefficients derived from regression model for men applied to women) indicated that the expected mean salary for women, if they retained their other measured characteristics but their gender was male, would be $12 194 higher than observed.

Conclusion Gender differences in salary exist in this select, homogeneous cohort of mid-career academic physicians, even after adjustment for differences in specialty, institutional characteristics, academic productivity, academic rank, work hours, and other factors.

Source:

JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association

URL:

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1182859

Date:

June 13, 2012

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The Women and People of Color Who Invented the Internet

Teaser:

Ms. examines the whitewashing that accompanies NYT's David Streitfeld's declaration that men invented the internet.

Editorial:

From the Ms. Blog:

A Sunday New York Times article by David Streitfeld has the feminist and tech worlds up in arms. Reporting on a sexual harassment suit filed by a junior partner in a venture capital firm, Streitfeld begins by proclaiming that “MEN invented the Internet” (those CAPS are his). I came across Streitfeld’s article after a friend suggested I check out tech journalist Xeni Jardin’s Twitter feed. Jardin’sresponse to Streitfeld:

WTF: “MEN invented the internet.” I’m sorry, did NYT just breeze past half a century of women in computer technology?

Herein lies the issue: Though Streitfeld primarily covers Ellen Pao’s lawsuit, he undermines his piece by leading with an emphatic and incorrect statement about men as sole inventors of the Internet. I’m not certain if Streitfeld was being tongue-in-cheek or if he simply has a narrow view of Internet history. But his article does incite, albeit unintentionally, necessary dialogue about the roles women–and racial and ethnic minorities–have played in Internet innovation. While some apparently assume that men alone developed the Internet, a quick glance at the Internet Hall of Fame’s 2012 inaugural inductees and the Early Internet Leaders list prove otherwise. (I also recommend reading History of the Internet).

In reality, the genesis of the Internet was a collaborative effort. It took decades of developments in computer programming and network technology. We can’t let the current cult of tech fandom around “white” men–such as Steve Jobs, whom Streitfeld name checks–obscure the women and the racial and ethnic minorities from around the world who contributed to the birth of the Internet.

Source:

Ms. Magazine

URL:

http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/06/04/the-women-and-people-of-color-who-invented-the-internet/

Date:

June 7, 2012

Affiliate:

How women are changing the tech world

Teaser:

USA Today profiles a new generation of female tech start-up founders.

Editorial:

From USA Today:

Reshaping a time-worn narrative isn't easy. Social revolutions rarely are, especially when you're a woman trying to break into the boys' club that is Silicon Valley.

But an emerging class of early-stage tech start-up executives is helping dispel the notion that there isn't a leading role for them in the male-dominated valley.

Company founders and leaders are coming out of Google, Salesforce.com and elsewhere for the excitement of shaping a young business.

The emergence of young female tech founders and executives reflects sweeping change in the worlds of start-up companies and angel funding, where wealthy investors give money in return for a stake in a company. It underscores the enormous purchasing prowess of women online that is transforming the Web economy. As more consumers reach for their smartphones and tablets to shop and communicate, there is a pressing need for commerce sites that cater to women, who control 70% of online purchases worldwide, according to Lisa Stone, CEO of BlogHer, a digital media company.

Many of these inroads are being made by female-led start-ups that are fueling innovation and the digital economy. Women will influence the purchase of $15 trillion in goods by 2014, according to Boston Consulting Group.

[...]

Source:

USA Today

URL:

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-06-04/female-tech-executives/55382536/1

Date:

June 7, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

NYT-“MEN invented the internet”

Teaser:

Xeni Jardin critique's The New York Times' piece on the Ellen Pao/Kleiner Perkins sexual harassment lawsuit, and gender discrimination in Silicon Valley.

Editorial:

From BoingBoing:

What a steaming turd of an opening line in David Streitfeld's otherwise serviceable New York Times piece about the Ellen Pao/Kleiner Perkins sexual harassment lawsuit, and gender discrimination in Silicon Valley.

Here's the opening graf (bold-ing, mine):

MEN invented the Internet. And not just any men. Men with pocket protectors. Men who idolized Mr. Spock and cried when Steve Jobs died. Nerds. Geeks. Give them their due. Without men, we would never know what our friends were doing five minutes ago.

You guys, ladies suck at technology and the New York Times is ON IT.

Radia "Mother of the Internet" Perlman and the ghosts of RADM Grace Hopper, Ada Lovelace and every woman who worked in technology for the past 150 years frown upon you, sir. Women may have been invisible, but the work we did laid the groundwork for more visible advancements now credited to more famous men.

"Men are credited with inventing the internet." There. Fixed it for you.

[...]

Source:

BoingBoing

URL:

http://boingboing.net/2012/06/03/nyt-men-invented-the-inter.html

Date:

June 5, 2012

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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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