Thursday, October 24, 2013

The Shriver Report – Education

The Shriver Report – Education:

The Shriver Report - Reporting from the frontlines of our changing lives

Disrupting the Pink Aisle With Toys for Future Engineers
DEBBIE STERLING | 10.24.2013
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As a girl growing up in a small town in Rhode Island, I never actually heard the word, “engineering” until I was a senior in high school. At the time, my math teacher suggested I pursue it as a college major. I couldn’t understand why she thought I would want to be a train driver! Luckily, I heeded her advice and tried Mechanical Engineering 101 my freshman year at Stanford. To my surprise, I loved the class and declared it as my major. Unfortunately, I was one of very few women to follow this path. The statistics are dire: only 11% of engineers in the US are women.
Why does this matter? Well, engineers literally build our world. From bridges to solar panels to websites to cars, everything we use every day, the things that make our lives better, are built by engineers. When men dominate engineering fields, we aren’t benefiting from the female perspective. And when half of our population is female, that perspective is incredibly important in building a better world.
“When men dominate engineering fields, we aren’t benefiting from the female perspective. And when half of our population is female, that perspective is incredibly important in building a better world.”
Why are there so few women in engineering? The problem starts early. Children as young as four start to form perceptions around what is appropriate for each gender – what careers and interests are masculine versus feminine. By age eight, girls start to lose interest in math and science. In a culture full of “Bob the Builder,” “Handy Manny,” “Bill Nye the Science Guy” and “Lego Man,” it’s no wonder that girls view engineering as a “boys club.”
I am building GoldieBlox as a way to get girls interested in STEM at a young age and provide them a much-needed female engineer role 
Education + Work
BREAKING THE MOLD
Making it in the Meat Business: A Step Back Does Not Always Mean Backwards
Kari Underly | 10.22.2013
Today, I run my own company, Range, Inc., a meat marketing and education firm located in Chicago, Illinois. I am the author of the James Beard nominated book, The Art of Beef Cutting. I’ve been on the Today Show, featured in Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, Martha Stewart Radio, and many other local and national media outlets. I get calls from companies and individuals all over the world, asking for help with their meat related challenges. How did I get here? It all started with my desire to get an education.  → Read More
Education + Work
Women With Degrees – “Your Real Work is Just Beginning”
Valerie Young | 10.22.2013
I recently spoke with a group of women pursuing their MBA degrees about the daunting challenges they can expect when they enter the business world. True, they are in an elite group of about the one-third of Americans with undergraduate degrees. They will outnumber their male counterparts when they receive their Master’s degrees.  → Read More
Education
Being A Feminist In A Sorority: Can You Really Do It?
Alanna Vagianos | 10.17.2013
As a recent graduate from a small southern private university, I have frequently toed the line between two very different identities throughout my four years. I grew up playing competitive softball, was a Women’s & Gender Studies major, and am a proud (and loud) feminist who played a significant role in my school’s LGBTQ organization. I am also a heterosexual, sorority girl who likes to attend fraternity parties and shamelessly flirt with boys. If you find yourself confused by these two very different persona, welcome to my world.  → Read More
Education + Health + Money + Work
In the United States of America, all men are created equal. Women? Eh… not so much.
Kamala Lopez | 10.10.2013
The ERA – Equal Rights Amendment – remember that? Those eighteen words that seem self-evident: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Well, the ERA never got into the Constitution. Despite all the brouhaha about how far we’ve come as a society in terms of civil rights, we seem to have (in)conveniently forgotten to guarantee equal rights for the 52% female majority in this country.  → Read More
Education
Waiting Tables to NASA: How Education Changed My Life
Cristine Andes | 10.04.2013
“I’m a 35-year-old mother of three in another marriage, working as a waitress, and have let life around me ‘just happen.’ I exist in a reactionary state of mind.” That was thinking, 13 years ago, before I decided it was time to become proactive, make choices and take control of my life. Today, I have completed three two-year degrees with honors and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a GPA of 4.0 with my Bachelors of Science in Occupational Safety and Health – this coming from someone who swore she would never go to college. I also work for NASA as a Quality Assurance Specialist.  → Read More
Education + Family
Homeschooling: The Benefits for My Son, and the Added Responsibilities for Me
Amy Mackin | 10.03.2013
When my own son, who has Asperger Syndrome, started coming home from school saying he hated his life, I understood.
Henry’s * a great kid. He’s smart and kind and well-behaved. But he doesn’t quite fit in. Managing a traditional school day is stressful for him, so when things don’t go as planned, he often falls apart. When he was younger, this wasn’t such a problem. But by fifth grade, the social gaps between him and his peers had grown much wider.  → Read More
Education + Work
How Much Do We Really Care About Our Children?
Kelly Garvin | 09.30.2013
If you ask somebody what means the most to them in this world what would they say? More often than not the answer to this question is family, and more specifically, children. Now ask what professions mean the most in this world? Based on salary the answers most likely include things like doctor, lawyer, athlete or actor? Not on the list are early childhood educators or caregivers. Sometimes it seems like this field isn’t even seen as a profession.  → Read More
Education
A WOMAN'S NATION CHANGES EVERYTHING
Better Educating Our New Breadwinners
Mary Ann Mason | 09.11.2009
More and more American women are taking on the role of breadwinner, both for themselves and for their families, with many of them looking to education as a bridge to opportunity and to a heftier paycheck. The good news is that women’s overall participation in postsecondary education today is remarkable.  → Read More
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