Wednesday, July 8, 2015
With only 15% of the Computer Science bachelor’s degrees conferred in the United States going to women, both the information technology industry and the realm higher education are under serious pressure to recruit more women to pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) majors and tech related career paths.
Some schools have had some impressive success; most notably the University of Washington, whose Computer Science program is 30% women. While far from equal and an accomplishment described as “not great” by Washington’s Computer Science and Engineering Chair Ed Lazowska, this statistic is still twice the national average. This seems to raise two important questions; first, what is it that UW is doing right, and second, what more can be done to bridge the gap nationwide?
The University of Washington initially cites exposure as a primary catalyst in motivating women to pursue STEM disciplines in college. By introducing young girls to information technology and programming in elementary and middle school through “workshops and field trips,” public universities (whose students tend to hail from local public high schools) can anticipate a cohort of women with an already piqued interest in the field. However, while this effective, it is far from the only answer as many women are denied early exposure but nevertheless have the potential to excel in Computer Science.
The University decided to take matters into their own hands and revamp their own program by “universalizing,” so to speak, the program’s introductory prerequisite courses as a means of indicating that Computer Science is fundamentally meritocratic and requires hard work and discipline, rather than innate talent. By fostering close relationships with faculty members in small classroom settings, CompSci loses its reputation as an isolated and lonely field and encourages teamwork and community -- something which is particularly important for women who often feel ostracized by their minority status. While these initiatives have been effective, they aren’t without their faults. Many women have found themselves put off by programs meant specifically to recruit women as they fear they will be labelled “female computer scientists” rather than merely computer scientists.
Schools like the University of Washington and Indiana University are making impressive gains in reducing the disparity women in STEM face; and while these schools forge ahead towards parity, it is quite clear that there is still a long way to go.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/22/upshot/making-computer-science-more-inviting-a-look-at-what-works.html?abt=0002&abg=0
On June 16th, 2015 billionaire businessman Donald Trump announced his intentions to run for President. While he is among a number of Republican candidates vying for the White House, remarks made during his announcement regarding immigration as well as the Mexican and Mexican-American community has sparked outrage for being outright discriminatory, bigoted, and inflammatory. The fear mongering comes from claims Trump has made that suggest all Mexicans who illegally cross the border are “rapists” and “drug dealers,” only later elaborating on this point a few days later following media backlash by stating that such criminal activities are not unique to Mexicans but rather all people who enter the United States undocumented from the southern border, whether the be Mexican, Central American, or South American.
In response, Univision, the Spanish language American broadcasting giant, broke a contract with Trump and refused to air the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, pageants which are facilitated by Trump enterprise The Miss Universe Organization. NBCUniversal, the other owner of The Miss Universe Organization later sided with Univision in their own refusal to broadcast the program on their own networks. While the decision to cut ties with Donald Trump stems from the insensitive comments he has made about Mexican immigrants, any talk of beauty pageants brings into focus a different conversation, one which begs the question as to whether or not beauty pageants are even a necessary component of a supposedly modern culture and that if events like Miss USA and Miss Universe are inherently at odds with the values of a 21st century America.
While various beauty pageants over the years have tried to emphasize their focus on scholarship and intangible non-physical qualities like congeniality, intelligence, and generosity, there is something intrinsic within these pageants that passively displays women’s bodies for judgment on their appropriateness and acceptability. Pageant culture has run rampant in the United States, especially in the past few decades, where women will begin preparing for such events as Miss USA from infancy a la Toddlers and Tiaras. To watch grown women paraded on stage dressed in identical bikinis awaiting judgment from predominantly male judges seems almost too archaic to be congruent to what it is we’re used to in the media. While women experience objectification and commodification on many levels and in many avenues, there is something so blatant and overt about pageants which creates a sort of dissonance that is difficult to reconcile. If we aspire to become a more feminist society, we must abandon the notion that women’s bodies are public spaces in which we can project our criticisms and judgments.
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Sexual Health Lobby Day
On Tuesday, June 30th, we had the great pleasure
of stopping in on the Sexual Health Lobby Day at the State House. Hosted by the Planned Parenthood Advocacy
Fund of Massachusetts, a federation of 33 organizations and
hundreds of volunteers from across our great state rallied for the cause.
I had the pleasure of interviewing attendee MWPC intern
Kelsey Barowich.
What was your favorite part of the Sexual Health Lobby Day?
“Hearing Maura Healey speak. She is amazing. We actually go to hear her speak earlier that
same morning at our Commonwealth Commentary series, where she spoke about her
experience campaigning and as the People’s Lawyer. It’s always a pleasure—she’s very sincere. I also really enjoyed seeing the number of
young people being civically engaged.”
Why does sexual health matter to you?
“Because it impacts me. And it impacts the people I care about. There isn’t a single person on the planet in
a position to neglect sexual health.”
Why should sexual health be a priority for our legislators?
“It has a direct impact on all of
the communities I’ve been a part of. Sexual health is a major part of community
health, and we can’t ignore the subject in fear of the uncomfortable or awkward
conversations that might arise. Education is key—with education comes
understanding, and understanding brings progress.”
Thanks, Kelsey!
For more information, we encourage you to visit these
websites:
Check out this
link to follow the fun!
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Taking a Bite Out of Inequality
As the summer gets into full swing, children across the U.S.
have begun the time honored tradition of attending summer camps. One particular
organization, however, is making headlines – and it’s not for the reason you
might think.
Most everyone in the U.S. knows of the Girl Scouts. They’re
hard to ignore, especially when they sell those scrumptious cookies. But their cookies aren’t what’s getting the
attention of national news sources. Earlier this year the Girl Scouts of
Western Washington were ecstatic to receive a large donation of $100,000. However,
they later learned that the donation was not given without stipulations. The donor,
who has yet to be named, wanted the promise: no money would go to support transgender
girls.
In response to the request Megan Ferland, the council CEO,
stated: “Girl Scouts is for every girl, and every girl should have the
opportunity to be a Girl Scout if she wants to." The donation was
then returned, in full, to the donor.
Since then, the story has been published on multiple news websites.
Furthermore, many articles attached the link to their indiegogo campaign to recuperate
the lost funds. As of today, July second, they have raised three times the
amount of the original donation.
For more information check out the twitter hashtag:
#ForEVERYGirl
#ForEVERYGirl
Good News for Hillary
Hillary Clinton has
currently raised more than $45 million for her primary campaign. According to a
campaign spokeswoman speaking on behalf of the Federal Election Commission
filings, ninety-one percent of the donations to Hillary for America were given
in increments of $100 or less. This is important news for the campaign because
it shows that Mrs. Clinton campaign has excited small-dollar donors. These
small-money donors are outside her traditional concentration of big money donors
from Manhattan and California.
Mrs. Clinton has
been on a jam-packed fund-raising schedule across the country. Her aim is to explain
her agenda at higher-dollar fund-raisers and entice donations from her wealthy
donors.
The campaign’s “Hillstarters”
program is raising a lot of funds from Hillary’s wealthy supporters. It has
raised $27,000 from friends who were asked to give a maximum donation of
$2,700.
Hillary has raised far more money than she did last time she
ran in a Democratic primary. Her fund-raising efforts will not go in vain. It
is projected that she will raise more funds than her Democratic and Republican rivals.
Unlike 2007, her competition among the Democratic candidates for campaign
funding is not substantial.
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