Legal Instruments

Title IX and other equal opportunity legislation and affirmative action policies continue to have a significant impact on bringing more diverse women into STEM fields. Title IX, by mandating equal access to educational opportunities and protecting women and girls from discrimination and sexual harassment, strengthens diversity efforts in STEM fields. Support for Title IX, and other legal instruments, is critical for bringing about needed institutional and policy changes. The American Association of University Women recommends government agencies such as NASA, the Department of Defense and Department of Education be required to conduct Title IX compliance reviews, ensuring that part of their funding is invested in updating and improving STEM programs. Encouraging equal opportunities is necessary to ensure that women are able to pursue science and math trajectories in business, industry, health and other relevant fields.

Intellectual Property and Women Entrepreneurs

Submitted by asklar on Sun, 03/11/2012 - 11:54pm

The number of women awarded patents has soared over the last several decades far beyond previously reported figures, and the percentage of trademarks granted to women has more than doubled, a new study commissioned by the National Women’s Business Council found.

The study found that women had a higher representation among trademark holders than patent owners; in 2010, 18 percent of all patents granted went to women while 33 percent of all trademarks granted to individuals and sole proprietorships went to women.

[...]

International Women’s Day: The real reason women get fewer patents than men do

Teaser:

Men file far more patents than women do, but women are securing an increasing number of patents and trademarks, according to a recent study by the National Women’s Business Council, a government advisory panel.

Editorial:

From The Washington Post:

In 2010, 22,984 patents were granted to women, a 35 percent jump over the previous year. The increase for men was only 28 percent.

“Overall, women held 18 percent of all patents granted in 2010, compared to the 14 percent they had a decade earlier. In 1990, they earned only 9 percent,” the study found.

Interestingly, the NWBC paper found that the highest rate of increase in the grant of patents to women was in the 1986-1993 period, and the slowest rate was in the 1999-2006 period, during the dot-com bubble.

The picture for trademarks was even better. Women nearly doubled their share of trademarks within a 30-year span.

[...]

Source:

The Washington Post

URL:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-small-business/post/international-womens-day-the-real-reason-women-get-fewer-patents-than-men-do/2012/03/08/gIQAWw1szR_blog.html

Date:

March 11, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

French breast implants: a Science-ish saga?

Teaser:

Editorial:

From Macleans:

Since December, health authorities around the world have been scrambling about what to do with women who have French-made Poly Implant Prosthesis (PIP) breast implants lodged in their bodies. After being approved for market, it recently emerged that PIP implants were filled with non-medical grade silicone—unbeknownst to regulators—and that their manufacturer had got rid of an outer skin to keep the implants from leaking and breaking.

What’s science-ish about this?

Watching different countries respond to the news has been a science-ish drama in the making. In December, the French government advised 30,000 women with PIP implants to have them purged on the public purse. Health authorities said there was a possible link between the implants and cancer, citing the deaths of women who had the dubious implants.

Since then, just about every country that had previously authorized PIP implants mounted a different response to the news that silicone meant for mattresses was now in the chests of women around the world.

...

Source:

Macleans

URL:

http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/01/12/french-breast-implants-a-science-ish-saga/

Date:

January 13, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

More Patents Granted to Women in Recent Years

Teaser:

The number of women obtaining patents has grown at an accelerating rate over the past 35 years and in numbers considerably higher than previously reported, a new study commissioned by the National Women's Business Council (NWBC) has found.

Editorial:

From PRNewsire:

The largest spike came in 2010, when 22,984 patents were granted to women, a 35 percent jump over the previous year, according to the NWBC study. In 2009, women received 17,061 patents, a 4.5 percent increase over the 16,321 issued in 2008.

The details are part of the preliminary findings from an extensive review of patents granted between 1975 and 2010 by the U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office. NWBC commissioned a private research company, Delixus, Inc., to conduct the study to determine the rates of women who apply for and receive patents. The study, which also will examine data on women with trademarks, is the first of its kind to explore this issue in depth, mainly because federal patent and trademark applicants did not ask for gender information. Newly-passed legislation will allow USPTO to start tracking gender data this year.

Research on intellectual property can help shed light on the potential growth of women-owned businesses, said NWBC Chair Donna James.

...

Details of the full report, which will include numbers on women, patents, trademarks over time and by industry, will be released during an upcoming news event at the USPTO headquarters in early March. NWBC will commemorate a 35-year history of women inventors by featuring a new female inventor every day on its website during March, which is Women's History Month.

The NWBC is a nonpartisan federal advisory council created to serve as an independent source of advice and policy recommendations to the president, Congress and the U.S. Small Business Administration on economic issues of importance to women business owners.

NWBC is the government's only independent voice for women entrepreneurs. It is made up of 15 prominent women business owners and leaders of women's business organizations. Each member is appointed to a three-year term.

Contact: Eun Kim, (202)205-6829
eun.kim@nwbc.gov

Source:

PRNewswire press release

URL:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/more-patents-granted-to-women-in-recent-years-136945503.html

Date:

January 10, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

The Obama Administration

Submitted by asklar on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:49am

As President Obama and his team lead the nation, AAUW continues to be at the forefront of changes taking place in Washington, D.C. and beyond. On this page, you can read documents AAUW has submitted to the administration, learn more about the members of the president's cabinet, and find additional helpful resources.

From the presidential transition period to present-day, AAUW has been constantly looking for ways to move our priority issues forward. In fact, AAUW has been working closely with the president's team to ensure that breaking through educational and economic barriers for women is on top of the executive branch's agenda. Below are the latest documents AAUW has crafted in response to administration policies, as well as the initial documents AAUW submitted to the presidential transition team, which highlight our federal policy priorities and goals that we have been pursuing since President Obama took office.

URL:

http://www.aauw.org/act/issue_advocacy/obamaAdministration.cfm

Member Organization:

American Association of University Women

NATIONAL PARENTS' DAY FORUM: Reclaiming Diversity

Submitted by jonathan on Tue, 07/06/2010 - 1:08pm

July 27, 2009 posted by Kyla Bender-Baird

As I began collecting background research for National Parent’s Day and the vast diversity of families in the United States, I kept running across amazing articles and resources–too many to use for just one post. So here you are: a round-up of interesting programs, articles, and very cool maps–all in the interest of reclaiming National Parent’s Day.

<< Back to the Full Blog

FORUM on Immigration Reform -- Baruch College, CUNY, May 26th

Display in Archives:

05/26/2010

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Expert Profile

Location:

United States

40° 42' 51.3684" N, 74° 0' 21.5028" W

See map: Google Maps

Member Organizations:

Legal Momentum

Leslye E. Orloff is vice president and director of Legal Momentum's Immigrant Women Program. She joined Legal Momentum's Washington, D.C. office in September 1999 to found and direct the Immigrant Women Program (IWP) which advocates for laws, policies and practices that enhance the legal rights of immigrant women and immigrant victims of violence against women. IWP focuses on improved access to immigration benefits, the justice system, public benefits, social services and health care.

Location

New York, NY

United States

40° 42' 51.3684" N, 74° 0' 21.5028" W

See map: Google Maps

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Expert Profile

Location:

United States

40° 42' 51.3684" N, 74° 0' 21.5028" W

See map: Google Maps

Member Organizations:

National Women's Law Center

Joan Entmacher is Vice President and Director of Family Economic Security at the National Women's Law Center, where she focuses on policies affecting the economic security of low-income women and their families, including Social Security, child support, tax, and income support programs. To promote improvements in these policies, Ms. Entmacher has testified to Congress on several occasions, frequently has advocated before administrative agencies, has participated in litigation, and has written and spoken extensively on these issues. Before joining the Center in 1998, Ms. Entmacher served as Director of Legal and Public Policy for the National Partnership for Women and Families, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College, Chief of the Civil Rights Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, and attorney in the U.S. Department of Labor Solicitor's Office. Ms. Entmacher is a graduate of Wellesley College and Yale Law School.

Location

New York, NY

United States

40° 42' 51.3684" N, 74° 0' 21.5028" W

See map: Google Maps

Associated Issues & Expertise:

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What We Do

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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