'Wanted: Women in Science and Engineering,' Report Says

Women made significant progress in the sciences over the last two decades, but gains have stalled — and in some cases eroded — in engineering and computer sciences, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Council for Research on Women (NCRW). The downturn comes despite effective new programs to increase women's participation in these fields. 

Balancing the Equation: Where Are Women and Girls in Science, Engineering and Technology? notes several reasons to advance women in the sciences, including the economic imperative to increase the technological and scientific literacy of America's workforce. At a time when U.S. industry cannot fill openings for technically advanced jobs, the talents of women are underutilized, reports NCRW. Equally important, the report says, are the perspectives women bring to the sciences, often leading to different decisions on allocating research dollars, targeting drug-testing protocols, and developing technology to benefit communities. 



The report analyzes strategies to attract women and girls to science and retain them in technological fields. It finds that efforts to open up scientific study and work have created new opportunities for women and minorities — but those efforts have been sporadic and disjointed. The report calls for a national commitment to remove the persistent barriers and glass ceilings facing women and girls in the sciences. 



Balancing the Equation reviews hundreds of programs that successfully increase the classroom, laboratory and workplace participation of girls, women and minorities in the sciences. It finds that women and girls excel in environments that encourage hands-on research, include mentoring and role models, and environments that link science, technology and engineering to other disciplines and real world applications. 



The report also provides a blueprint to help leaders make the culture of scientific enterprise inclusive and advance institutional change and includes an extensive resource guide to help educators, business leaders and policy makers promote women's and girls' advancement in the sciences. Findings include: 

• In 1996, women constituted 45 percent of the workforce in the U.S., but just 12 percent of science and engineering jobs in business and industry. 
• There has been a marked decline in women's participation in college-level computer science study. In 1984, women earned 37 percent of undergraduate computer science degrees. By 1999, women earned fewer than 20 percent of computer science degrees. 
• In 1996, women earned 53 percent of undergraduate degrees in biology and 46 percent of degrees in math and statistics, but just 19 percent of physics degrees and 18 percent of engineering degrees. 

Balancing the Equation calls for systemic change and a long-term commitment by top leaders at all levels to advancing women in the sciences, beginning in kindergarten and continuing throughout women's careers. The report recommends that: 

• Teachers integrate science and technology learning with other disciplines such as history, literature and art. 
• Communities invest in science and technology literacy at all levels, provide resources for teachers to develop their science careers, and actively encourage parents to promote their daughters' interest in science and technology. 
• Higher education institutions replace first-year courses designed to intimidate or weed out students in computing, physics and engineering with courses that invite students into these disciplines. 
• Colleges and universities adjust science and engineering curricula to accommodate late bloomers and offer opportunities for cross-disciplinary studies that include science and technology. 
• Four-year higher education institutions look to liberal arts, women's colleges and historically black colleges and universities when recruiting students for graduate science and engineering departments. Women science Ph.D.s are more likely than their male counterparts to come from liberal arts institutions. 

Each chapter concludes with recommendations for specific action steps to advance women and girls in science and technology. An extensive Resource Guide provides information about successful programs, websites, and funding, along with program descriptions of 44 NCRW member centers engaged in the sciences. 



Copies of Balancing the Equation are available for purchase from NCRW, an alliance of 95 university-based research centers, national policy organizations, and educational coalitions. More information and the executive summary is available online at http://www.ncrw.org/research/iqsci.htm