Facts about STEM careers and U.S. Hispanics

The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology estimates that the United States needs to produce approximately one million more STEM professionals over the next 10 years, which equates to increasing the number of students earning STEM degrees by nearly 35% per year over current rates.

Latinos are the fastest growing segment of the US population and workforce, yet the Hispanic share of the STEM workforce increased by only one percentage point from 2000-2009, according to the US Department Of Commerce’ Economics And Statistics Administration.

Given Hispanics are projected to account for 75 percent of the growth in the nation’s labor force between 2010 and 2020, Latinos completing certificates and degrees in STEM fields will be vital to meeting the national STEM college completion goal1.

According to data from the Higher Education Research Institute (2010), only 16 percent of Hispanic students who began college in 2004 as STEM majors completed a STEM degree by 2009, compared to 25 percent of non-Hispanic White students.

Women hold only 24% of STEM jobs in the United States2

• Only 3% of Hispanic Women earned physical science degrees, 2% earned engineering degrees and 1% earned computer science degrees in 20113 
• 81% of teen girls see themselves as “smart enough to have a career in STEM”, yet only 13% consider it their number one career option2

Sources:

1. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technolog
2. New York Academy of Sciences and Girls Scouts of the USA 
3. Miami Science Museum

Romney Would Turn Back the Clock On Women's Health

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Planned Parenthood launches $3.2 million ad campaign 

Infant Abduction Prevention

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New and violent trends in infant abductions

Mothers and fathers are understandably absorbed with their new babies, but they should still exercise caution and common sense when using social networking sites online:

• Make sure your online privacy settings do not allow strangers, and possible offenders, to gain access to personal information such as where you plan to be with your baby at a certain time or on a certain day. Inadequate privacy settings also allow others to track your movements using embedded information in pictures posted online.
• FBI Crimes Against Children Unit suggests that new parents may not want to display the traditional pink or blue balloons outside their homes announcing a baby shower or a new arrival. “Doing so will advise random strangers that you have a new baby in the house or will soon,” said FBI Intelligence Analyst Ashli-Jade Douglas.
• People in general and especially new and expectant mothers should be aware of their surroundings whenever they are out in public. “Is someone too interested in your pregnancy or your newborn, asking too many questions or sounding odd?” Douglas asked. “Those may be red flags.”
• Lastly, any type of incident or odd behavior should be reported to local authorities. “You may not think it’s important,” Douglas explained, “but that type of information allows us to track incidents and it could help prevent future abductions.”

Source: fbi.gov

Rock and Roll Museum announces “Women Who Rock” exhibit

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum announced the opening of an exhibition celebrating the women of rock. This new exhibit, ‘Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power’, will illustrate the important roles women have played in rock and roll from its inception through today. Opening of the exhibit will be on May 13, 2010 and run until February 26, 2012.

The ‘Women Who Rock’ exhibition is interactive, spotlighting more than 60 artists and will fill the entire 5th and 6th floors of the museum. Features of the exhibit will be artifacts, video and listening stations, and a recording booth where visitors can film a short story. Further, the exhibit will move through the rock and roll eras from the early years of the 20th century to the present.

‘Women Who Rock’ exhibit eras are formed into six separate eras, starting with the 1920’s and will work up into present day. A few featured artists include 1920’s blues artists Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, Ruth Brown from the 1950’s era, the Ronettes of the early 1960’s, Janis Joplin and Aretha Franklin from late 1960’s, Heart, Fleetwood Mac and Donna Summer covering both the Rockers and Disco Divas of the 1970’s. The exhibit eras continue to Punk, Pop and finish with a look at the women of the 1990’s to present day. An additional feature offered by the museum will be educational programs for junior and senior high school students.

To kick off the exhibit’s opening weekend, the Museum’s annual It’s Only Rock and Roll Spring Benefit Concert will feature an all-star lineup including Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Wanda Jackson and Cyndi Lauper, both featured in the Women Who Rock exhibit. Additional artists will be announced in the coming weeks. For more information about the ‘Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power’ exhibit call (216) 781-7625 or visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum website.

Gender Discrimination, Gender Bias and now ... Gender Fatigue?

Perhaps this writer is little behind, until recently I’d never heard of “Gender Fatigue.” Being the curious person that I am, I had to find out what this gender fatigue was. Google is a beautiful thing. Where would we be without Google? Probably blissfully unaware of nauseating terms like, “gender fatigue.” Nonetheless, I found the source of this new label, a study conducted by Elisabeth Kelan, Ph.D., from King’s College London “Gender Fatigue: The Ideological Dilemma of Gender Neutrality and Discrimination in Organizations,” published in the 2010 Canadian Journal of Administrative Science.

Dr. Kelan found that workers acknowledge gender discrimination is possible in modern organizations, but at the same time maintain their workplaces to be gender neutral. Dr. Kelan notes, “Gender fatigue is caused by workers not acknowledging that bias against women occurs. The problem with gender fatigue is that it prohibits productive discussion regarding inequalities between men and women, making gender bias difficult to address. Future studies should explore what happens to gender fatigue over time and whether practical strategies can be developed to shape the way in which people in organizations speak about gender.” The study conducted in 2003-2004, included 26 men and women from two information communication technology companies. Basically what Dr. Kelan’s study states is that gender fatigue happens when gender bias is not acknowledged. This is fantastic. We women can now call our bosses and let them know that we won’t be into work today because we’re suffering from gender fatigue.

Women in the Labor Force: A Databook 2009 Edition published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics cites, that in 2008 women accounted for 51% of all persons employed in management, professional, and related occupations, somewhat more than their share of total employment at 47%. Further research from the World Economic Forum’s 2009 Gender Gap Report states, “No country in the world has yet managed to eliminate the gender gap.” But the report also states, “Out of the 115 countries covered in the report since 2006, more than two-thirds have posted gains in overall index scores, indicating that the world in general has made progress towards equality between men and women.”

Examining statistics from all three studies can certainly leave one very confused. We can acknowledge that discrimination of every type exists in the workplace but perhaps we should hold-off on using yet another label that divides the genders and focus our energies upon avenues to close the gender gap.