|
Washington, DC - March 26, 2010 - Mae Jemison has accomplished many things in life. She is a chemical
engineer, medical doctor, college professor, and in 1992, became the first
African-American woman astronaut to blast into space.
New mission
Jemison now runs her own medical technology company, BioSentient Corporation.
She's also a spokesperson for Bayer Corporation's science outreach program.
Each year since 1995, the company has commissioned a survey on science
literacy and workplace issues. This year, it polled 1,200 women and minority
chemists and chemical engineers. Careers in science, technology, engineering and
math are collectively known as STEM.
"I think that survey shows that, as minorities and women pursue a STEM
career, they have to face a number of barriers along the pipeline and what we
need to do as a society is really understand what these roadblocks are," says
Jemison.
While women and minorities make up two-thirds of the American workforce, they
represent less than 25 percent of STEM careers. The survey cites poor schools,
lack of quality science and math programs, persistent negative stereotypes,
financial cost and school and workplace bias as the reasons why.
Early interest
Jemison says the survey also finds children are interested in science at an
early age.
"That means is that kids come out of the chute excited about the world around
them. They are interested in what is going on but hit roadblocks. They are
really derailed from their track to becoming professional scientists by academic
systems and societies that are neither color blind nor gender blind."
Nearly two-thirds of those polled said women and minorities in STEM careers
are under-represented in their companies or institutions. Forty percent said
they were discouraged from pursuing their chosen career, typically in college
and often by their professors, an experience Jemison remembers from her
undergraduate days.
She says her professors were less than enthusiastic to see her in class. "It
ranged from looking at me when I would ask a question as though something was
very strange and then some other student would ask the same question and the
teacher would say, 'This is an astute observation.'" American Association of
University Women "Why so Few?" finds climates in university science and
engineering departments limit women's participation and progress in science and
technology fields.
Big gap
Despite a gradual increase in women graduating with undergraduate and
graduate degrees in science fields, the gap between men and women remains
significant in the U.S. workplace.
That's according to a second report released this week by the American
Association of University Women. "Why So Few?" compiles academic research from
the last 15 years. Its findings underscore the social and cultural bias and
barriers in higher education reported by the chemists and engineers in the Bayer
survey.
Co-author Andresse St. Rose says, for example, while girls earn high school
math credits at the same rate as boys, the myth that girls aren't good at math
is persistent and powerful.
"Because of that negative stereotype, girls are more likely to believe that
they are less able in math compared to boys who have similar grades and tests
scores in math," says St. Rose.
But she is hopeful the situation can be reversed. "We believe that people can
reset their biases by taking a proactive step, choosing to educate themselves
more about women in these fields, by putting up positive images of women in
science in their classrooms and in their homes."
The AAUW report recommends steps to raise awareness about girls' achievement
and interest in science, and to get colleges to attract and keep more female
students and faculty. St. Rose says all sectors of the community must implement
these initiatives in order for them to be successful including, "kindergarten
through 12th grade teachers and guidance counselors, college and university
administrators and certainly employers and policymakers."
Former astronaut Mae Jemison agrees. She says stronger science programs in
schools and colleges will not only put more women and minorities in science
fields, but also fuel a more literate democracy.
Credit: This
article originally appeared on the Voice of America
web site at http://voanews.com,
where more in-depth audio versions of articles can often be found. |
University Biases Keep Women, Minorities Out of Science Careers
