Tag Archives: women

Stanford Hires First Female Dean Of School Of Engineering

10 Tuesday Jun 2014

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Very interesting… I may have to interview her for my research. Later. From the ASEE aggregator:

Kristin Brown writes in “The Tech Chronicles” blog of the San Francisco Chronicle (6/5), Stanford just hired Persis Drell as its first female dean of its school of engineering. Brown calls this “a small step” but “a big deal” for the field in which “women are vastly outnumbered by men.” It is a movement towards changing the perception of engineering as a masculine field, which is “a major obstacle” to women pursuing it as a career.
The “Tech Chronicles” of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (6/5) also provided coverage of this story.

Massachusetts College Aims To Attract Women To Engineering

08 Sunday Jun 2014

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I missed the email from ASEE that included this article. This is very interesting and something I may be able to incorporate into my research. From the ASEE aggregator last month:

WBUR-FM Boston (5/27) reports on line that while statistics show that men greatly outweigh in engineering programs, Olin College of Engineering, “a small school of fewer than 400 students in Needham, founded in 1997,” has “wanted to attract more women to engineering” from its start. The piece reports that Olin President Rick Miller “said the way engineering colleges teach engineering turns women and other students away who might otherwise be great engineers,” and reports that Miller said that he views engineering as “a performing art.”

LEGO Approves Female Scientist Characters

06 Friday Jun 2014

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While I suppose I should be pleased and simply agree that it really is about time they made these toys, I am actually rather offended by Lego’s press release and the media coverage. STOP MAKING THIS SUCH A BIG DEAL!!!  Just add the stupid figurines and get on with it. Sigh…  And a good thing the “minifigures” look trendy so they can still go shopping and do housework, eh? Sheesh! (on the other hand, I will definitely have to buy the telescope and minifigure for my astrophysicist daughter…the hair almost matches, too)
From the ASEE aggregator:

New minifigures from Lego: trendy women in STEM careers

Abby Phillip writes in the Washington Post (6/5) “Style Blog” blog that LEGO approved designs for female scientist, paleontologist, and astronomer characters, giving the company, “at long last…female figurines who do something other than bake and hang out at the beach.” The designs came fro the LEGO Ideas online competition. Ellen Kooijman, who submitted the designs said she sough to address the “stereotypical representation” of women in LEGO figures. The Phillip presents the move as part of the effort to address the low number of women in Science Technology Engineering and Math jobs.
        Boston.com (6/5, Salahi) reports LEGO’s Lego Friends series is aimed at girls, but “the female minifigures were designed in trendy outfits and accessories to go shopping, do housework, style hair, and bake.”
        Also coveirng this story are the Huffington Post (6/6, Samakow) and NBC News (6/6, Wagstaff).

No Girls, Blacks, or Hispanics Take AP Computer Science Exam in Some States

10 Monday Feb 2014

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I am chagrined to see that the uptake of technology programs by women is sporadic, yet I still hope to affect widespread change — which starts with awareness. This article from Education Week (Heitin, Jan 10, 2014) highlights how few US girls signed up for and completed the computer science AP test – complete with a very interesting graphic.

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Study: Minorities, Women Still Underrepresented In Engineering Field

07 Friday Feb 2014

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Still news to some, I suppose. From the ASEE aggregator:
US News & World Report (2/6, Neuhauser) reports that, according to an annual report from the National Science Board, minorities and women are still underrepresented in the engineering and science fields. The report said “African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians and Alaska Natives” made up ten percent of science and engineering workers in 2010, the report said. But, that is only up “from 7 percent in 1993,” according to the report. Women, the report found, are also underrepresented. Females made up less than 30 percent of engineering and science workers.