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Bi-Weekly Newsletter October 02, 2014
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A National Vision for Mentoring Girls and Young Women in STEM
Town Hall October 2, 2014 2:00-3:00 pm EST
(Feel free to invite a colleague as well!)
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REMINDER: Now is the time to move the needle on a diverse STEM workforce! Join Pepsico, Tata Consultancy Services, Intel, National Girls Collaborative Project, National 4-H Council, Girls Inc., Learning Blade and the Million Women Mentors/ STEMconnector Team as we discuss:
1) Business Case for Mentoring Girls and Young Women in STEM
2) How Corporations and Non-Profit Partners are Leading the Call to Action to Mobilize 1 Million (Male and Female) STEM Mentor Matches by 2018
3) How 24 States Are Mobilizing Through State Networks and National Girls Collaborative Project
4) JUST 20 HRS- Joining the Million Through Mentors Pledges and Results-Metrics
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To receive WebEx call-in information, please register and you
are welcome to invite other key colleagues.
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In This Issue:
- A National Vision for Mentoring Girls and Young Women in STEM
- Iowa's Statewide Model
- Call to Action
- MWM Events/Calendar
- Women in STEM News
- Resources / Awards
- Engage with MWM!
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I/We Pledge to mentor a girl or young woman in STEM with 20 hours of skills based mentoring. I will email my pledge to
Once you sign up and pledge to mentor girls and young women in STEM at
www.MillionWomenMentors.org
you've made your pledge officially count as one in a Million. The next step is to find your mentee!
We are at the 170,000 mark in pledges to mentor, thank you! Already over 100 corporate and non-profit partners have signed on to actively engage in mentoring young women and girls in STEM skills. Look for resources and mentor opportunities on our interactive website. |
Million Women Mentor Events & Calendar:
October 2
Million Women Mentors
Town Hall 2
Mentoring Best Practices October 9 & 10National Diversity Women's Business Leadership Council Conference Click here for more information October 16
Partner Training Session October 21
Women in STEM Boston Conference Click here for more information December 4
Million Women Mentors Town Hall: State Partners Update to the Nation January 2015
National Mentoring Month January 8
MWM One Year Anniversary January 13
Leadership Council Meeting March 8 & 9
International MWM Announcements
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Women in STEM
Resources/Awards:
Campaign for Science and Engineering
Improving Diversity in STEM
Pledge To Mentor
Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation Rolls Out Leadership AwardsSeries of leadership awards to recognize the leaders advancing opportunities for women in the building industry
Women in STEM:
Realizing the Potential
This white paper will give you credible insight and facts for your use. This key document was developed with our lead technology partner TCS.
Action Guide and Toolkit
Million Women Mentors
100 Women Leaders in STEM
In celebration of women role models in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), STEMconnector™ published in hard copy and online its inaugural
Teach Thought
40 Important STEM Resources For Women
Access HERE Office of Science and Technology Policy
Women in STEM: Fact sheets & Reports
Download HERE
How to find a Mentee?
STEM Mentoring
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Engage With The Million Women Mentors Movement!
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Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds Announces Statewide STEM Female Mentoring Effort
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  Drake University Athletic Director Sandy Hatfield-Clubb, Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds, and Chief Executive Officer of STEMconnector�, Edie Fraser
On Sept. 24, 2014, Iowa Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds launched the first MWM statewide model and public-private partnership of its kind called MWM-Iowa. There are three components that make this statewide model different from others. First, the focus on recruiting 5,000 female and male mentors from all 99 counties in Iowa over the next four years. Second, an exciting effort called the "Coaches Mentoring Challenge" was created and directly tied to the MWM-Iowa model. Third, a robust website was developed to help increase awareness of MWM-Iowa, share information and register mentors/companies. The MWM-Iowa statewide model also fully leverages a high-level Executive Council, actively engaged sub-committee members, and ongoing alignment with the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council's metrics.
"In the United States, STEM is a driving force behind economic growth, stability, and educational success. That's why, we're creating an environment in Iowa that prepares all of our students with the necessary skills to compete in an global knowledge-based economy," stated Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds
When MWM-Iowa was announced during a packed Statehouse news conference, nearly 50 guests attended the event including the board of directors of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry. In addition, media covering the event included: Associated Press; The Des Moines Register; Radio Iowa; Des Moines Business Record; WHO-Radio; KCCI-TV (CBS Affiliate); WHO-TV (NBC Affiliate); and WOI-TV (ABC affiliate) to name just a few. During the news conference, it was shared that Iowa has recruited 1,500 mentors from 13 Iowa businesses. In addition, the women's basketball coaches at Drake University, Iowa State University, University of Iowa and University of Northern Iowa, along with the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, are participating in the Coaches' Mentoring Challenge to connect female students with mentors. The Coaches Mentoring Challenge will "tip off" next month at the beginning of the NCAA Division I women's basketball season.
Read More
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Women in STEM
Across the entire country women and young girls are participating in programs that expose them to STEM careers. Through mentoring, our partners and top corporations are working to increase their interest and passion in STEM fields.
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As in the NFL, ill treatment of women in tech isn't new. What's startling is how in professional football, major financial stakeholders have suddenly decided that enough is enough, or at least are paying strong lip service to the idea. Sponsors have withdrawn contracts, politicians are raising eyebrows about oversight and stadium funding, and players are being yanked from the field.
Not so in tech, where in a community of advanced thinkers, a level of retrograde behavior and products is proving remarkably resilient.
In Silicon Valley, misogyny and sexism remain ripe for disruption.
Recently, the head of a Silicon Valley startup wrote an anonymous column in Forbes magazine describing her encounter with a venture capitalist from whom she hoped to raise money for her fledgling company. He invited her to his home for dinner to discuss the matter.
The boys club of Silicon Valley finally may be starting to take dues from women. There are still just 51 female CEOs in all of the Fortune 1000. Yet female chief executives like H-P's Meg Whitman and Yahoo's Marissa Mayer have paved the way for more women leaders, and the biggest tech companies are beginning to open up about their workforce diversity -- or lack thereof. "There's something strange in this ecosystem," tech consultant and activist Vivek Wadhwa said in a recent interview with MarketWatch. "Women really are absent from tech conferences and in leading roles in tech companies, there are almost no women on boards. It's like a twilight zone."
"It's death by a thousand cuts. Every day you're faced with some comment, some snide remark, some inability to get a name on a research paper. And with an accumulation of those experiences, women tend to walk with their feet." That's Janet Bandows Koster, executive director of the Association for Women in Science explaining one of the reasons why so few women pursue science careers--and why those who do often abandon them. She said that in addition to feeling that science jobs aren't particularly family-friendly, women already working in science and those who aspire to often feel that the science community is biased against women--and in some cases downright hostile.
There's a paradox in the scientific world, but it may not be the one you're thinking about. Here's why. On Monday, the New York Academy of Sciences announced that even though the global economy is generating a record number of scientists, it still faces a shortage in science professionals. This is one of the "STEM paradoxes," that the NYAS identified in a paper called "The Global Stem Paradox" that it released before an audience of about 500 U.N. delegates, scientists, high school students, heads of foundations and corporate philanthropists, many of whom were in New York for the United Nation's General Assembly. 
It's becoming increasingly clear that computer science education grapples with a stubborn image problem. And it's one that we simply cannot afford to ignore any longer. As information technology permeates nearly every aspect of our world today - from personal mobile devices to automated HR systems to the smart grid - it fuels a rapidly growing need for computer scientists. Many indicators clearly demonstrate that we are simply not keeping pace with demand. For example, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 2020 there will be 1.4 million new computer science jobs. However, between current professionals and university students, we will only have 400,000 computer scientists trained to fill those roles.
Two years ago at a Startup Weekend Women's Edition event, former Amazon and Microsoft user experience designer Adriana Moscatelli was inspired to address the gender imbalance in the tech industry. She wanted to create a tool that made learning science and technology skills fun for kids - and especially girls. That's exactly what Moscatelli has built with Play Works Studio, a startup backed by the National Science Foundation that develops games to teach programming, math, and science to kids. "We are a team of scientists, artists, designers and engineers who grew up tinkering, making, exploring, playing with building toys and being curious," Moscatelli said of her team.
The International Women's Hackathon is a network of concurrent events that are designed to empower young women leaders in computer science. By providing a fun and safe environment in which to explore computing, the hackathon encourages and supports university women around the world to become producers of future innovations in technology and help solve challenges in the world today. We are pleased to partner with the Anita Borg Institute to bring the hackathon to the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in Phoenix, Arizona. We will be live at Maricopa Community College on October 11..
Iowa is launching an initiative known as "Million Women Mentors," which has a goal of enlisting 5,000 mentors to urge girls and young women to pursue careers in [STEM]. Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds said the goal of the public/private partnership is to attract male and female mentors from all 99 Iowa counties. She noted that growth in so-called STEM jobs has been three times greater than non-STEM jobs, and that women with STEM jobs earn 33 percent than females in other fields. "I believe mentors can guide, encourage, and open doors for girls and young women to be fully equipped for the great jobs of tomorrow in STEM-related careers," Reynolds said at an Iowa Capitol news conference where the initiative was announced on Wednesday.
Girl Scouts of Central & Western Massachusetts Geek is Glam STEM Expo will feature astronaut Sunita Williams and Miss Massachusetts Lauren Kuhn (Boston Live)
Nearly 600 girls, 45 presenters and 20 panelists will convene on Oct. 18 at Worcester Polytechnic Institute,to celebrate [STEM] at the Geek Is Glam STEM Expo. The day-long interactive conference for girls is hosted by the Girl Scouts of Central & Western Massachusetts and WPI with over 100 area education and adventure collaborators. Astronaut Sunita Williams and Miss Massachusetts Lauren Kuhn will be among the featured speakers. Girls will be exposed to some of the area's top scientific and engineering minds as they engage in the hands-on aspect of exploration and discovery while they build, explore, assemble and imagine. Emerson is committed to developing women leaders in STEM , and demonstrates this commitment with the announcement of a $500,000 investment in Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri's STEM programs. Their investment will provide opportunities and experiences for today's girls so they can reach their full potential and become the leaders of tomorrow. "When girls succeed in STEM fields, so do our communities," said Bonnie Barczykowski, CEO for Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri. With Emerson's investment, Girl Scouts will be able to offer opportunities for the 46,000 Girl Scouts in urban, suburban and rural areas of eastern Missouri." In early 2012, Hacker School-think of it as a 3-month immersive retreat where programmers can hone their craft-announced a partnership with some leading software companies like Etsy to offer ten $5,000 grants for women who wished to attend. Hacker School wanted to diversify their student body, and over the last couple of years, they have managed to increase their female student body from 5% to 35% through these grant programs. Today, Hacker School announced they are pushing the definition of diversity to include other minorities that are under-represented in programming: African Americans, non-white Hispanics, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders. They want their students to be a better representation of the demographics of America. When talented women embrace science, the result is a steady stream of joy and curiosity. We sat down with the Scirens, a new collaboration of actresses sharing their excitement for science and technology, and advocating for their inclusion in the entertainment industry. This spring, actress and writer Taryn O'Neill was inspired to solidify her position on the importance of actresses speaking out in support of [STEM]. In the conversation that followed, Scirens was born, a platform for actresses to spread their sense of wonder inspired by the world around us.
..But few reports on gender participation in STEM analyze women under the microscope of different demographic backgrounds to determine whether there's variation between different cultures or ethnicities, according to the authors of research recently published online in the American Psychology Association's Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology journal. The study, which compared white and black women's participation in and perception of STEM fields, found that black women were more likely than white women to show an interest in studying STEM disciplines when they enter college. The research also shows that African Americans were less likely than white Americans to view STEM programs as masculine, which may help explain why the participation levels vary between the two ethnic groups.
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