Advisory: Balancing the Equation

EDITORS: Review copies of the subject report are available from Gretchen Wright at (202) 371-1999. Carol Hollenshead is available for phone interviews. Contact Judy Stentzel at (734)998-7080.

The National Council for Research on Women (NCRW), of which the University of Michigan’s Center for the Education of Women (CEW) is a member, released today (July 17) a major new report, “Balancing the Equation: Where Are Women and Girls in Science, Engineering and Technology?”

Among the report’s findings are that women and girls made significant progress in the sciences over the last two decades, particularly in medicine and the biological sciences. But women’s gains have stalled, and in some cases eroded, in engineering and computer sciences, despite effective new programs to increase women’s participation in these fields.

The report analyzes strategies to attract women and girls to science and retain them in technological fields. It finds that efforts to open up these fields of study have created new opportunities for women and minorities—but the 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.

Carol Hollenshead, director of CEW and Angela Ginorio, associate professor of women’s studies at the University of Washington, co-authored a section of the report on the impact affirmative action has had in bringing women and minorities into these fields.

The National Council for Research on Women is a working alliance of 95 university-based research centers, national policy organizations, and educational coalitions.

The National Science Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Patrina Foundation and the Prentice Hall School Division provided support for “Balancing the Equation.”

National Council for Research on WomenAngela GinorioNational Science Foundation