By AAUW San Diego | October 28, 2011 at 08:09 PM EDT | No Comments
While we are actively promoting STEM programs to encourage girls to enter studies and careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (and so we should!), we are facing drastic budget cuts in education for arts and music education. At the state level in California, increasing emphasis is being placed on STEM courses and careers.
I just came across a compelling key note speech that reminded me why the arts are important. It is by Dr. J. Kagan, Harvard, who spoke to the Dana Foundation in New York City. The Dana Foundation supports brain research. Dr. Kagan's speech is: Why the Arts Matter, Six Good Reasons for Advocating the Importance of Arts in School. To summarize the reasons:
Boosts the self confidence
Freedom for self-expression
The mind uses three distinct forms, or tools, to acquire, store, and communicate knowledge. Art and music require:
Procedural knowledge.
Perceptual representations
Schematic understandings
Provides all American youth with some values they feel warrant consistent loyalty
Cooperative unit when they compose a mural or play in the school band
Provides opportunities for all children to experience and to express feelings and conflicts that are not yet fully conscious and cannot be expressed coherently in words
Ponder this: Just remember that Adolf Hitler applied to art school twice and failed to get in. What if he had been accepted? We might have averted WWII.
If you wish to read the key note address: http://www.dana.org/news/features/detail.aspx?id=21740
By AAUW San Diego | October 11, 2011 at 01:46 PM EDT | No Comments
Our branch was founded 100 years ago in San Diego! This is quite a banner year: having promoted gender equity for women and girls non-stop for a century in the classroom and the workplace. Our 100th Anniversary Luncheon will be held at the Handlery Hotel, Saturday, 15, 2011 at 11:30 am. Dr. Marye Anne Fox, Chancellor of UCSD will be our keynote speaker.
When I reflect upon what I have seen and been able to accomplish in my lifetime alone, it is a source of pride to be connected to such a fine group of women in AAUW San Diego Branch. I realize that our collective efforts and actions will continue to be a source of our strength and success.
I recall even as an honor-student undergraduate, I experienced discrimination via remarks from male professors that were discouraging and insulting. Early on in the world of work, I experienced challenges with business practices that did not accommodate working mothers or reward women equally.
Now as a college professor, I feel fortunate that my particular workplace has a system in place that is equitable.
"You've come a long way, baby!" comes to mind. Certainly, the struggle is not over yet, and we shall continue to champion the rights of all women and girls.
I am interested in hearing stories from YOU, about the changes you have seen and personally experienced, or even those you have yet to see improve. I look forward to reading your share.
Do you think we are making adequate progress with regards to barriers to tech careers for women? Will this 10-year plan be effective? Please share your views with us to establish a dialog!
To summarize the press release:
The federal government will make it easier for women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) according to Monday's announcement of the National Science Foundation's 10-year plan to increase workplace flexibility in the STEM fields. The event, in the East Room of the White House, featured First Lady Michelle Obama and NSF Director Subra Suresh.
In recognition of AAUW's contributions to research and grassroots advocacy in promoting women's increased participation in STEM, the White House invited AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman, CAE, and AAUW President Carolyn Garfein to attend.
AAUW's 2010 research report, Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, provides compelling evidence of the environmental and social barriers that continue to limit women's participation and progress in those fields. This report sparked AAUW's renewed commitment to building successful local programs to attract girls and women to STEM fields.
By AAUW San Diego | September 13, 2011 at 12:23 AM EDT | No Comments
Did you go to our branch's Tech Trek presentations on Saturday? What did you think about the girls' stories?
For those of you who missed, girls from this past summer and the year before told of their experiences. They showed their interest, inspiration, and gratitude for the awesome experience they had with field trips, science projects, funny stories (setting off smoke alarms and burning grass). Also poignant with the recent tragic loss of active member and champion for Tech Trek, Florrie Donnovan-Gunderson. We had a slide show that gave us a great cross-section of the week's activities.
How can we get girls involved in tech careers? What can AAUW do?
Recently there was an article:
Google Exec Marissa Mayer Explains Why There Aren't More Girl Geeks
Mayer is a star who had 14 job offers. You don't hear that often. She is a star no matter what she does. But how can we transfer her advice to the rest of us and the girls and young women we wish to encourage and inspire?
By Lily Payn, PhD. I can be reached at network@aauwsandiego.org.
By AAUW San Diego | September 05, 2011 at 12:48 PM EDT | No Comments
Another casualty due to budget pressures: in signing the new State Budget, the Governor exercised his line item veto authority to eliminate the California Commission on the Status of Women (www.women.ca.gov) later this fiscal year. The Commission will be unable to complete the year's activities.
By AAUW San Diego | August 30, 2011 at 05:11 PM EDT | No Comments
Today I wanted to revisit our June topic about human trafficking.
AAUW San Diego member Anne Hoiberg, Chair, International Interests Committee alerts us to the campaign to end child marriage.
The U.N. Foundation, funded with a huge donation from Ted Turner, has initiated the Girl Up campaign, a program that connects girls in the U.S. with girls in developing countries to raise awareness and money for U.N. programs that help adolescent girls face such difficult issues as child marriage. According to Girl Up, “Child marriage is a human rights violation. Tragically, 1 in 7 girls in developing countries is married by age 15—often to a man twice her age or older.” UNICEF estimates that 60 million women in developing countries now aged between 20 and 24 were married before they reached 18; the number of child marriages could reach 100 million during the next decade.
This year, the Girl Up Campaign has mobilized an estimated 150,000 American teens who are dedicated to ending the practice of child marriage. To advocate for their cause, these teens have delivered a petition to the White House with signatures from girls across the U.S. Their petition asks the Obama administration to address the issue of child marriage so that girls in such countries as Ethiopia, Malawi, and Guatemala won’t be forced into getting married and bearing children as children themselves. United Nations research results show that the younger the bride, the younger the mother, the higher the fertility rate, the higher the infant mortality rate, and the higher the maternal mortality rate.
Last December 1, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act, meaning all Senators voted yes on this legislation. Two weeks later, the U.S. House of Representatives astonishingly responded by voting against passage of this act. If passed, the bill would have authorized the President to provide assistance in the form of $67 million in outlays for 2011 to 2015, funds that would be used to prevent the incidence of child marriage in developing countries through the promotion of educational, health, economic, social, and legal empowerment of girls and women. Those in favor of this act voiced their anger by stating that child marriage is a “barbaric practice” and another form of child sexual abuse. Those opposed claimed that the program was too costly and that the funds could be used to promote abortion. It is now up to us to join U.S. teens and support their efforts to help their sisters through the Girl Up Campaign at www.girlup.org.
By AAUW San Diego | August 20, 2011 at 04:58 PM EDT | 3 comments
I came across a book recently that I felt was echoing messages I "heard" as I was growing up. The Curse of the Good Girl - Raising Authentic Girls with Courage and Confidence by Rachel Simmons "argues that girls are pressured to embrace a version of selfhood that sharply curtails their power and potential."
What is a "good girl"? She is supposed to be always nice, doesn't boast, is the "little helper". Do you remember hesitating to tell of your achievements? When you made mistakes , did you criticize yourself unrelentingly? Did it cause you to be extra cautious and limit your risk-taking? Were you afraid to express your true feelings?
Were you afraid to be assertive?
It may seem that the message has changed for our daughters and granddaughters today. They are encouraged to be "whatever they want to be!" But as I am writing this and watching a sit-com in the background (I'm a multi-tasker) the scene is students being asked to introduce themselves for the new school year and tell about their summer. A little girl - 4th grader - tells excitedly about her summer at a horseback riding camp. She relates that at the end of the camp she was the best rider and jumper of her group. The teacher's response - "Can you spell modest?"
Ms Simmon's book suggests strategies to encourage girls to become their "authentic selves", to acknowledge their own feelings. She also runs a Girls Leadership Institute where girls can be "real".
For the girls in your lives - daughters, granddaughters, nieces, yourself - don't think it's great to tell them "What a good girl you are!"
By AAUW San Diego | August 01, 2011 at 09:49 PM EDT | 1 comment
Mark your calendars for Tech Trek Tales on Saturday, September 10th from 10 - 12 pm at the Mission Valley Library. This will be a wonderful opportunity to hear how Tech Trek has enhanced the lives of the 2010 and 2011 participants. This is one of our General Meetings, so please join us! Refreshments will be provided.
A few other upcoming events:
California Centennial Suffrage Parade
Date: August 25, 2011Time: between 4:45 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Location: Balboa Park (Kate Sessions Statue) Event info: http://womensmuseumca.org/eventCalendar.html
By AAUW San Diego | July 25, 2011 at 07:27 PM EDT | 2 comments
CBS News ran a segment last night about Tech Trek and the 2011 Google Science Awards that referred to the increase in girls in the STEM fields.
CBS News video: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7374372n&tag=strip
Results: 54% of Tech Trek girls (results from the last 6 years) have majored in a STEM field in university.
Have you still experienced misunderstandings such as that expressed by the Harvard president a few years ago as to why there have been less girls in STEM majors? How did you address it?
By AAUW San Diego | July 06, 2011 at 12:32 AM EDT | 2 comments
Do you play video games? Do play games online? I certainly am interested in your share.
I am in the middle of "Gender Inclusive Game Design: Expanding the Market" by Sheri Graner Ray (2004). Its premise is that girls and women use computers, but women have not been active in the entertainment industry sector that develops and publishes games. Nor have girls and women participated in games at the same degree as boys and men. She includes many interviews with women who have broken through the gender barrier in the industry and summarizes the history of games that have successfully attracted women (such as Barbie and activity-based games). I have read some more recent statistics (2011) today from a different source that indicated 40% of game players were women.
By AAUW San Diego | June 28, 2011 at 01:58 AM EDT | 6 comments
Did anyone see the Demi Moore special on Sunday nite on CNN, about Human Trafficking? I was able to see most of it. This particular show was about the situation in Nepal: kidnapping women and children to work in the brothels and stealing their organs. The show highlighted one local leader's efforts to educate girls and the community, as well as recover the victims and facilitate their re-entry to the Nepalese society, which is quite a challenge with the stigma of their experiences. Moore and husband have founded an organization, "Real Men Don't Buy Girls." Perhaps they have enough media attention to make a difference with this plan.
What do you think is a solution to this world-wide problem?
By AAUW San Diego | June 18, 2011 at 02:43 PM EDT | 1 comment
Last evening I went to the San Diego Women's History Museum Fundraiser that was held in the Spanish Village Art Plaza in Balboa Park. Happily, it was packed, and it looks like everyone was having a good time while they supported the museum. I didn't see any of our branch members. (Were you there?) There was live music, silent auction, dancing, and so many food booths with snacks (mostly cheese and chocolates) and wine tastings.
If you want more information about the museum:
http://womensmuseumca.org/
I love the museum's slogan:
"Well-behaved women seldom make history." —Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Have you been to the museum? What impressed you the most?
By AAUW San Diego | May 05, 2011 at 01:20 AM EDT | 2 comments
Have you received your ballot for the National AAUW elections in the mail? Not only do we have the opportunity to vote for our elected officials, but also many significant changes that are proposed for the Bylaws.
There is an option to mail in the ballot (we provide our own stamp on the addressed envelope provided) or vote online for FREE. I decided to vote online. I found it was very easy to logon to the National site with my member number and logon number that was in the upper left hand corner of my ballot. After filling in the form with my choices, I clicked on SUBMIT.
The convention issue of the AAUW "Outlook" magazine also arrived in the mail. It lists the events for the convention (June 16-19, 2011) in Washington, DC. There will be briefings, panels, tours, workshops and plenty of activities that promote networking and sharing. The cover story features Tina Tchen, the executive director of the White House Council on Women and Girls and chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama.
Are you going to the convention? Have you been to a convention in the past? Will you share your impressions with us? What was your grand AHA from the convention?
By AAUW San Diego | May 04, 2011 at 12:47 AM EDT | No Comments
The gender wage gap is still an unresolved issue. We would like to continue this topic with posts about your personal experiences. Have you had positive experiences negotiating your salary? Was the process fair and equal? Please share your experiences with us.
This week our own President Eunis Christensen was interviewed along with SDSU Professor Doreen Mattingly on KPBS' These Days; the topic was the gender wage gap. Did you listen to the interview? What was an AHA for you?
By AAUW San Diego | April 12, 2011 at 08:46 PM EDT | No Comments
Did you have a chance to read the startling statistics listed in our home page document: 12 Days to Equal Pay?
Would you be willing to share your experiences as to equal pay? Have you been in jobs/careers in which you were underpaid just because of your gender? Or have you experienced equivalent pay for equivalent work? What have you done to close the gender pay gap that you may have experienced?
By AAUW San Diego | April 09, 2011 at 08:11 PM EDT | 2 comments
Today's CNN news quote: ".....push to strip $317 million in federal funding from Planned Parenthood failed. Democrats also turned back Republican attempts to get federal dollars currently set aside for family planning and women's health turned into block grants for states."
Drastic measures to keep our government running without shutdowns... but what do YOU think about the impact on women's health choices and resources due to the drastic measures to balance the Federal budget?
Let's get a dialog going about these important issues.
By AAUW San Diego | November 30, 2010 at 06:28 PM EST | No Comments
I've thought of myself as better than average for things technologic, but I've only heard about blogging, Twitter, Facebook, etc and hadn't tried any of it. (I still need to figure out Twitter!) but this blog can be pretty easy for us older members of AAUW San Diego.
At this time the member can only make comments to the blogs that are currently here. If you wish to make a comment, good or bad, you need only click on the link with the word Comments in it, right after the topic of the blog. It will ask for your name and e-mail address (which will not be published), fill in some anti-spam numbers and then you write your comment. When it is submitted it will not be available until one of the "Our Blog" administrators checks it out for appropriateness (no offensive language, etc.)
Because of space limits the comment is not shown unless you click on the Comments link which will now list a number for Comments.
So jump in, make some comments. Let us know that you are out there. Start a conversation!
By AAUW San Diego | November 11, 2010 at 09:36 PM EST | 2 comments
I was so excited to see this month's issue of our "Outlook" magazine ( Fall 2010). The entire issue is devoted to "Studying for Success: AAUW on Campus". In particular, the article on Page 16 is near and dear to me: "Back to School after All These Years."
As a college prof, I am in constant contact with nontraditional learners, most of whom are women. Women who have children, women who are caregivers to disabled children or parents, women who are misplaced homemakers, women who have lost their jobs....and many are working full-time while juggling family duties. The majority of our local student body... which reflects national statistics... are in their 30's. Not the traditional 18-21 year olds you find at 4-year universities. We have students well into their 70's and 80's!
This also resonates with me since I earned all of my degrees after I had children. What a challenge, but I was determined. It took me many years to earn 5 degrees in my spare time. So I empathize with adult learners who maintain their passion for learning, for improving their skills and minds, and their desire to grow intellectually. Indeed, the women I have interviewed report that they are inexorably changed due to their higher learning; they experience a transformation as a result of their continued learning.
One of the major factors in this surge of adult learners is technology. With the advent of online learning, students can learn anywhere at anytime. Amazing.
The AAUW sponsored and published a study of women learning online that is a delightful read (Kramerae, C. (2001). The third shift: Women learning online.) Check it out.
How do you keep growing intellectually? How have you changed as a result of your continued learning? Share with us about your learning experiences!
For more information about our San Diego Branch, please visit our website to learn more.
By AAUW San Diego | November 10, 2010 at 05:34 PM EST | No Comments
Have you experienced intermittent error messages or warnings when you open this blog? We have done some testing in various browsers and platforms and get random messages. Customer service tells us that they are aware of this but it is not harmful and you can participate in the blog without consequences to your computer. They also stated they are working on a fix, but they would not estimate when the problem would be resolved.
They recommend using Internet Explorer 7, since the error messages do not pop up in this browser.
By AAUW San Diego | November 09, 2010 at 10:10 PM EST | No Comments
Are you a "reader"? Do you read for information or pleasure? My mom taught me how to write my name by the time I was 4 years old so I could apply for my own library card. I was hooked. Lamentably there have been times when formal education, family, and / or work interfered with scheduling reading. How do you fit it all in?
Share with us what you are reading now. Or your favorite book or one that you would like to recommend. I just picked up "The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri" by David Bajo after reading a review. A math genius inherits the 351 favorite books from Irma and embarks on a mission to find out why she disappeared. He reads the books to find clues. A mystery about books!
AAUW San Diego has a Book Discussion Group to give you an opportunity to connect with other readers. It meets:
2nd Wednesday of the month 10 am
If you would like more information about the Book Discussion Group, please contact info@aauwsandiego.org.
For more information about our San Diego Branch, please visit our website to learn more.
By AAUW San Diego | November 02, 2010 at 07:30 PM EDT | No Comments
A record number of women ran for political office on Tuesday. Our AAUW San Diego branch is co-sponsoring an event that will certainly provoke and inform.
Sunday, November 14
November Election results: Impact on Women
Pt. Loma / Hervey Library, 3701 Voltaire St, 92107
Sponsors: AAUW SD+AAUW SD County Interbranch / Council Pres.
Speaker: Lisa M. Maatz, Nat’l AAUW, Director of Public Policy
By AAUW San Diego | November 01, 2010 at 10:03 PM EDT | No Comments
A couple of weeks ago I had the good fortune to see a new play, "Detroit", at Steppenwolf in Chicago. It was written especially for their fall series with a grant. While everyone in our group reached similar conclusions that the acting and set were first class (with some famous names from TV and film), the play itself still needed some work to convey the powerful themes it presented into an enjoyable evening at the theater. I was amazed to note that a disappointing evening stimulated so much conversation. Share with us the kind of plays you enjoy and which theaters are your favs.
Do you love the theater? Do you want to become part of the AAUW San Diego's Playreaders to [re]discover selections from our drama repertoire? Playreading engages, inspires, and challenges while it promotes camaraderie with fellow theater fans. Our branch has a Playreaders group that has a regular meet-up:
By AAUW San Diego | October 30, 2010 at 04:21 PM EDT | No Comments
Welcome to our blog! We invite you to join the dialogue about issues that are important to us. We invite you to return often, not just to passively check on our events and activities, but to discuss the issues in a way that broadens our perspectives and develops our own thinking.
The next key event is our Election Day, Tuesday, November 2. BE SURE TO VOTE. There are record numbers of women candidates across the country. We want to make sure there are record numbers of women voters turning out at the polls. Exercise your right to vote.
AAUW California is asking for your opinions in the "AAUW CA Biennial Public Policy Action Priorities, 2011-2013". If you missed the Fall, 2010 copy of the "California Perspectives", then be sure to complete the online survey and please e-mail it no later than December 1, 2010.