Women receive less than 28 % of the comp sci BAs - only field w/ decline

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

I am going to add to this in a different direction. The world and the 
USA wastes more than just woman talent. It ignores our brightest in 
primary/secondary schools offering them, in the majority of schoools, 
nothing meaningful in the way of developing their minds -- be they 
male, female, black, brown etc.

Normally the argument is "we cannot find the money". They can of course 
for the best athletically . Does that say something about priorities. 
The same argument that is used below can and should  be used to support 
accelerated education for our brightest -- male or female.

Dave

Begin forwarded message:

From: j4fral4 () att net
Date: September 10, 2004 11:43:13 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Women receive less than 28 % of the comp sci BAs - only field 
w/ decline

Dear Dr. Dave:

      See math and science references from 3rd paragraph on, from my 
friend in the Human Rights Office of the American Federation of 
Teachers.

      I worked on the regulations about materials/textbooks for Title 
IX right out of college with my science major (Biology/American 
Studies, had put my herpetologist professor's salamander data into the 
college mainframe, my first computer) and, around the same time, took a 
workshop at Wesleyan on based on a new book about Bayseian statistics 
and math anxiety in girls and women. My dad, a math/civil engineering 
major cum Army Intelligence/Signal Corps officer, then civil servant/my 
mother, a home economics/

nutritional chemistry major who, after arrival of 3 kids, 
taught children in their homes  who were too ill to be in school, then 
high school biology, was working on her MA and PhD in sex differences 
in science education while I was in high school and college. So I had 
the good fortune to be around math and science from both parents, 
and these data, all my life.

      With fewer and fewer foreign students coming here to study at the 
moment, with the crashing supply of nurses and other medical workers, 
maybe soon to be followed by doctors, and the shrinking labor force as 
the boomers begin to retire, we need the women and girls with the 
talent, working in these fields and teaching them, all the more - I'm 
reminded of the women going into the airplane and munitions plants 
during WWII, becoming welders and riveters and machinists and filling 
all the other roles magnificently. In the same vein, Bob Moses (The 
Algebra Project, forgive if this duplicates) is having some success 
with girls AND boys teaching algebra in black communities around the 
country, based on his theory that algebra has become the gatekeeper for 
success and achievement. 

     So I thought you (and maybe the list) would find these statistics 
interesting and useful. 

     All best, Jacqueline Fralley

 

Jacqueline Fralley

j4fral4 @ att.net

Progressive Information, Inc.

PO Box 2402

 Kensington, MD 20891

202 -298-9418
    
 -------------- Forwarded Message: --------------
From: "Connie Cordovilla, Human Rights"
 Subject: Next ERA call
 Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2004 13:08:19 +0000


 RESCUING AN EDUCATIONAL EQUALITY PROGRAM FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS

Rep. Maloney successfully attaches amendment to preserve the Women's 
Educational Equity Act

WASHINGTON, DC - The House of Representatives was poised to pass a 
Labor-Health and Human Services Appropriations bill (HR 5006) today 
that would zero out the Women's Education Equity Act (WEEA) after 30 
years of ensuring that women and men, girls and boys are treated 
equally and fairly in school. On the House floor, Rep. Carolyn Maloney 
(NY-14), along with Reps. Lynn Woolsey (CA-06) and Loretta Sanchez 
(CA-47) offered an amendment to fund WEEA at last year's level - $3 
million. The measure successfully passed the House.

WEEA was enacted to promote educational equity for girls and women and 
to provide funds to help educate agencies and institutions meet the 
requirements of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. It gives 
women and girls the training, materials and support to succeed in the 
educational system

"The progress we women and girls have made in the past 30 years did not 
come by itself," said Maloney. "Programs like WEEA have brought us this 
far. But we would be foolish to think the job is over.

"The test scores of women and girls still trail those of their male 
counterparts in subjects like math and science. And just last week, the 
Census Bureau released a study showing that the wage gap between men 
and women widened in 2003.   In fact, women's pay slumped for the first 
time since 1999 with women earning only 75.5 cents for every dollar men 
earned.  According to the Census Bureau, this massive decline marks the 
first "statistically significant" decline in women's pay since 1995.   
It's obvious that programs promoting equality are very relevant today. 
It was a mistake to de-fund WEEA, and I applaud my colleagues in the 
House for correcting it."

WEEA was established by the late Representative Patsy Mink in 1974 and 
was reauthorized as part of the No Child Left Behind Act. WEEA has 
helped women and girls close the educational gap in America, but there 
are still some disparities, including:

      

	• 	In 2003, male students scored higher on average than female 
students in mathematics

 
	• 	Girls represent 17 percent of the Computer Science "Advanced 
Placement" test takers, and less than one in 10 of the higher level 
Computer Science "AB" test takers

 
        •       Women are roughly 20 percent of IT professionals

 
	• 	Women receive less than 28 percent of the computer science 
bachelor's degrees, down from a high of 37 percent in 1984. Computer 
science is the only field in which women's participation has actually 
decreased over time

 
	• 	Women make up just 9 percent of the recipients of 
engineering-related bachelor's degrees.


 

###

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