What's new at SAGE:
Welcome to the new format for the quarterly SAGE Newsletter. Four times a year, via the e-Newsletter, we will update you on the work we are doing to increase awareness of women in underrepresented careers such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).
Join our mailing list!
In the media:
- The New York Times - "Bias Called Persistent Hurdle for Women in Sciences" By Tamar Lewin, Published: March 21, 2010
- Sacramento Bee - "Sacramento experts to share passions, inspirations Nov.3" - November 1, 2004
- Sacramento Bee - First Person: "Career choices for girls in fields of technology" by Susan Wheeler - January 15, 2003 - Part 1
- Sacramento Bee - First Person: "How SAGE has enabled girls to dream big" by Effie Kolbeins - January 15, 2003 - Part 2
- New York Times - Education Life article "Where the Girls Aren't" by Karen Stabiner - January 12, 2003
- Comstock's Business Magazine - "Brains Over Beauty - The Mission of SAGE" by Ed Ring - October 2002
- Excerpt from Sacramento Bee article by Bob Shallit - April 8, 2002
New York Times - Bias Called Persistent Hurdle for Women in Sciences
By Tamar Lewin
Published: March 21, 2010
A report on the underrepresentation of women in science and math by the American Association of University Women, to be released Monday, found that although women have made gains, stereotypes and cultural biases still impede their success.
The report, “Why So Few?,” supported by the National Science Foundation, examined decades of research to cull recommendations for drawing more women into science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the so-called STEM fields.
“We scanned the literature for research with immediate applicability,” said Catherine Hill, the university women’s research director and lead author of the report. “We found a lot of small things can make a difference, like a course in spatial skills for women going into engineering, or teaching children that math ability is not fixed, but grows with effort.”
The report treads lightly on the hot-button question of whether innate differences between the sexes account for the paucity of women at the highest levels of science and math.
Five years ago, Lawrence H. Summers, then the president of Harvard, sparked a firestorm when he suggested that “there are issues of intrinsic aptitude, and particularly of the variability of aptitude” reinforced by “lesser factors involving socialization and continuing discrimination.”
The association’s report acknowledges differences in male and female brains. But Ms. Hill said, “None of the research convincingly links those differences to specific skills, so we don’t know what they mean in terms of mathematical abilities.”
At the top level of math abilities, where boys are overrepresented, the report found that the gender gap is rapidly shrinking. Among mathematically precocious youth — sixth and seventh graders who score more than 700 on the math SAT — 30 years ago boys outnumbered girls 13 to 1, but only about 3 to 1 now.
“That’s not biology at play, it doesn’t change so fast,” Ms. Hill said. “Even if there are biological factors in boys outnumbering girls, they’re clearly not the whole story. There’s a real danger in assuming that innate differences are important in determining who will succeed, so we looked at the cultural factors, to see what evidence there is on the nurture side of nature or nurture.”
The report found ample evidence of continuing cultural bias. One study of postdoctoral applicants, for example, found that women had to publish 3 more papers in prestigious journals, or 20 more in less-known publications, to be judged as productive as male applicants.
Making judgments about an individual’s abilities based on his or her sex is a classic form of discrimination, said Nancy Hopkins, an M.I.T. biology professor who created an academic stir in the 1990s by documenting pervasive, but largely unintentional, discrimination against women at the university.
Even if male math geniuses outnumbered female geniuses 3 to 1, Dr. Hopkins said, it would be reasonable to expect one female math professor for every three male professors at places like Harvard and M.I.T. “But in fact, Harvard just tenured its first female, after 375 years,” said Dr. Hopkins, who, famously, walked out of the room after Mr. Summers made his controversial remarks.
The university women’s report cited research showing that girls’ performance suffers from any suggestion that they do poorly at math. In one experiment, college students with strong math backgrounds and similar abilities were divided into two groups and tested on math. One group was told that men perform better on the test, the other that there was no difference in performance between the sexes. Their results were starkly different: in the group told that men do better, men indeed did much better, with an average score of 25 compared with the women’s 5. In the group told there was no difference, women scored 17 and men 19.
Any suggestion of advantage based on sex affects results, the research shows, even where there is no cultural stereotype.
In an experiment ostensibly testing “contrast sensitivity ability” — a made-up skill — men and women in a group told there was no difference between the sexes in such sensitivity rated their own ability equally. But in a group told that men were better at it, men rated their skills far higher than women did.
Teaching girls about how stereotypes affect performance, the report found, can diminish such effects.
In a separate survey of 1,200 female and minority chemists and chemical engineers by Campos Inc., for the Bayer Corporation, two-thirds cited the persistent stereotype that STEM fields are not for girls or minorities as a leading contributor to their underrepresentation.
Many in the Bayer survey, also being released Monday, said they had been discouraged from going into their field in college, most often by a professor.
“My professors were not that excited to see me in their classes,” said Mae C. Jemison, a chemical engineer and the first African-American female astronaut, who works with Bayer’s science literacy project. “When I would ask a question, they would just look at me like, ‘Why are you asking that?’ But when a white boy down the row would ask the very same question, they’d say ‘astute observation.’ ”
The university women’s report found that girls have less confidence in their math abilities than boys with equivalent achievement levels. Because most people choose careers where they believe they can do well, the report said, girls’ lesser belief in their skills may partly explain why fewer young women go into scientific careers. Both the university women’s report and the Bayer survey stress the need for more female mentors and role models.
But even as women earn a growing share of the doctorates in the STEM fields, the university women’s report found, they do not show up, a decade later, in a proportionate number of tenured faculty positions.
Sacramento Bee - Sacramento experts to share passions,
inspirations Nov. 3
Published November 1, 2004
(Excerpt from full article republished
here with permission of the Sacramento Bee)
Top area professionals will share their passions and expertise as guest speakers at the Professional Business Women of California conference.
Each speaker has a dynamic life story to share and various areas of expertise to bring to the conference. Here's a look at some of the local speakers who will be featured at the daylong conference:
Susan Wheeler is president of the Sacramento Advocates for Girls' Empowerment, a nonprofit organization that inspires and educates girls and women to pursue careers in technology, life sciences, engineering, science, math and law. The creation of SAGE is driven by like-minded women who are motivated to share their enjoyment in working with technology. Wheeler has more that 20 years of experience and is also a founder of Pathfinder Consulting Solutions, which provides consultation for high-tech and telecommunications companies and non-profit organizations all over the world. Through SAGE, Wheeler hopes to open up new possibilities for girls and young women.
Bob Shallit--Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Monday, April 8, 2002
(Excerpt from full article republished here with permission of the
Sacramento Bee)
You go, grrls: Susan Wheeler was once in middle school. So she knows what happens to many girls at that age.
"Their brains sort of turn off in terms of technology," she says, the result of intimidation and peer pressure. "It's not cool to be smart."
Things are changing for the better now, but Wheeler is out to accelerate the progress by heading up a new outreach program from Webgrrls, a local networking group for female tech execs.
Wheeler, head of a local consulting company, is looking to recruit at least 100 successful women from the tech field and have them go into schools periodically talking with girls about careers in technology and spreading the word that "you can be bright, successful and intelligent and still have friends."
Ultimately, she'd love to see the program expand to include mentoring and job-shadowing opportunities. "All we're trying to do is say, you know, there's a world of possibilities out there, and here are some options," she says.
If you'd like to help out, give Wheeler a call at (916) 962-7206.
Brains Over Beauty - The
Mission of SAGE by Ed Ring, www.EcoWorld.com
Comstock's Business Magazine, October 2002
(Republished here with permission
of Comstock's Business Magazine and the author)
You're an adolescent girl living in 2002 in the United States of America. You're assaulted by advertising images of stereotypical feminine beauty; they resonate in your mind even when you sleep. They reflect the culture at large, a culture that values beauty in women above intellect. You want to fit in. You become less diligent in school, lose self-esteem, and think more about your looks than your books. Is this an all-too-familiar story? The world is changing, but it hasn't changed enough, and girls need to know that intellectual success will not bar their path to fitting in Ñ that even when their identity includes recognition of their brain-power, girls can still find fulfillment in all areas of the lifetime standing before them.
Adolescent girls need role models who will testify to career achievement as a dream worthy of their aspirations. These girls need messengers from their parents' and older sister's generations to tell them it's fun to study math and science, and that interesting jobs await those who persevere.
Enter SAGE, that's "Sacramento Advocates for Girl's Empowerment," a volunteer group operated by local women who have been successful in technically demanding careers, and who want to help more girls earn the rewards they have achieved. Not surprisingly, SAGE's founder, Susan Wheeler, started her career as a programmer before moving up in the ranks of technical management at companies ranging from the giant AT&T to Internet ventures Interliant and Pandesic. "I firmly believe that girls aren't always aware of the opportunities out there, and don't always have exposure to role models," said Wheeler. "Moreover, girls in middle school often tend to focus less on academic achievement than they may have previously. We want them to know that they aren't alone, that women who have succeeded in the "tough" classes such as math and science may have had the same doubts, but have gone on to become successful in these challenging fields." SAGE is a new group, formed as a community outreach program of the Sacramento chapter of Webgrrls international, but they have already had several events where successful women have given talks to groups of Jr. High and High School girls. They have recruited a go-to list of volunteer speakers that draws from the many women in the Sacramento region who have distinguished themselves in technical careers. The names and titles of just a few of these women speaks for itself: Pamela Marrone, CEO of Agraquest; Patricia Antonoplos, Ph.D., director of System Integration at MicroScan; Valerie Hipkins, director of the Genetic Electrophoresis Lab at the Institute of Forest Genetics; and many others.
When asked what SAGE means to her, Wheeler stated "As a programmer, I was one of the very few women in that field, and I think it's important to help young girls know they can succeed in a profession that will be very rewarding, and that they may not know will be available to them." Wheeler and her co-founders, including Kim Jacobson, Judy Sava, Effie Kolbeins, Marie Ramos and Anita Hooper, all of them successful local business women, hope SAGE's work will eventually benefit Sacramento's growing technology industry. As Wheeler put it, "In the future, we will need more and more qualified technical people. A benefit SAGE brings is more women entering the technical work force, helping ensure adequate qualified candidates for growing companies to hire." Asked if SAGE can help overcome the media bombardment that values beauty over brains, Wheeler was optimistic, "The proof is in the caliber of the SAGE volunteers. We know that this idea is working; it will make a difference to both the young girls and the business community."
Ed Ring is a Sacramento-based freelance writer
and technology CFO.
ILLUSTRATION: JULIO SEVILLA
First
Person: Career choices for girls in fields of technology
By Susan Wheeler -- SAGE volunteer
Published in The Sacramento Bee, 2:15 a.m. PST Wednesday, January 15, 2003
(Republished here with permission of The Sacramento Bee)
Part 1
There's a new group in town that is willing to give their time freely in support of helping students understand career choices. The group, Sacramento Advocates for Girls' Empowerment (SAGE), is made up of women who provide a broader view about choices in career fields such as computer-related technology, life sciences, math, engineering and law.
SAGE is a community outreach program that was formed about six months ago. The organization has already signed up over 70 speakers and presented at a number of Sacramento area schools such as Center High, Rio Linda High School, Thurgood Marshall High School, Arcade Middle School, Calvine High School and William Daylor High School.
Susan Bassett, communications manager at Aerojet, wants to encourage young people who are at an important juncture in their lives. Amanda Hart, owner of I-Tul, wants to provide the kind of inspiration that motivated her to switch from biomedical engineering to entrepreneur and owner of a Web design and IT consulting company. Kim Brain, principal at Brainworks Consulting, says, "Believe in yourself and never take no for an answer."
Some SAGE speakers like Karen Thurston, partner at Base Two Solutions, realize that one of their biggest challenges is prioritizing family, clients, employees, and business. Kathy Papalia, Deputy Attorney at Caltrans, understands the pressure that students face. Her advice to students is to have a plan to get to where you think you want to go regardless of whether that involves college or not.
A number of SAGE speakers got to their current positions through a round-about path. Warren Binford, attorney with Pillsbury Winthrop LLP, says though she was not a great high school student, she went on to attend Harvard and to practice law. Her sound advice to students is that there are no limits to what they can achieve if they focus efforts toward their goals.
Inspiration comes in many forms for SAGE speakers. Lisa Maddaus, senior engineer at Brown and Caldwell, had a sixth grade math teacher who told her that math was really hard in junior high, so she should take easier math courses. The advice was more a hindrance than a help, yet Maddaus stuck with the difficult classes in college and is now a civil engineer.
Angela Lee Foreman, regulatory affairs officer with Antibodies Incorporated, says her mother provided her with her outlook and focus. Angela says her mother raised her while making sure the words "can't" were not in her vocabulary.
Most SAGE speakers value the opportunity for lifelong learning. They look forward to the challenges that their work provides and hope to share their experience and leanings with many students in the Sacramento region.
About the Writer
Susan Wheeler has developed and launched products and services for large
and medium-sized companies for over 15 years. She is a principal at Pathfinder
Consulting Solutions, a strategic marketing consulting company in Fair
Oaks. Susan founded SAGE because of her strong belief in helping young
girls realize their potential. She can be reached at susan@consultpathfinder.com.
Part 2
First Person: How SAGE has
enabled girls to dream big
By Effie Kolbeins -- SAGE volunteer
Published in
The Sacramento Bee, 2:10 a.m.
PST Wednesday, January 15, 2003
(Republished here with permission of The
Sacramento Bee)
SAGE, Sacramento Advocates for Girls' Empowerment, is a labor of love put forth by professional women who are dedicated to addressing the very specific issue of increasing the representation of women in the field of technology. The SAGE volunteers hope to achieve this ambitious goal by providing speakers that address groups of girls, and encourage them to consider careers in technology.
With a few presentations now under their belt, the moment has arrived for SAGE's first reality test. Are we impacting the girls? Are they taking our message to heart? What are they thinking? The answers lie directly with the girls themselves, and as such, SAGE wanted to hear straight from them.
Kristen, a ninth grader at Center High in Antelope says of the SAGE Speakers Forum, "It inspires us to be strong independent women. It also opens up doors of opportunity that weren't open to us before."
Cacey, 14, says, "One of the speakers made me think of what I want to do when I get older and ways to get where I want to go. Being a girl is fun. I would never want to be a guy. Girls rule, boys drool."
Ninth grader Alyssa says, "The speakers that have presented have shown me a light that has been missing from my life. Now I know what I want to do in my future."
Nicole, a fellow classmate of Alyssa, says, "One of the speakers did leave me thinking about my future. Well, actually all of the speakers have given me bits and pieces of information that I will remember and apply it to my life."
Next, the girls were asked about the value of the SAGE Speakers Bureau. Heather, 14, says, "I think that it is a really good thing because it gives us all a chance to see what others are going through and we can know that we aren't the only ones going through certain things."
Shala, 14, says, "It gives us an opportunity to interact with each other. And we get opportunities to express ourselves and make positive choices."
Jillian, 14, says, "My favorite thing is the encouragement, and how everyone is here for you."
When asked what messages the girls have for the adult world, Sarah, 13, says, "If I could share one thing with the adult world about girls, it would be that they have so many expectations to live up to and it can be very hard. Changes occur often and they can make a huge impact on a girls'/young ladies' life."
SAGE exists expressly for the purpose of countering the message that the field of technology is for boys only, by providing real-life examples to middle school and high school girls of dynamic women excelling in all fields of technology. SAGE volunteers believe that the time they donate is time well invested, and although we are at the very beginning of our long journey we think it fair to conclude that the message is getting through loud and clear and it is being taken to heart. This inspires us to keep giving as we strive to enable girls to dream big, knowing that someone ahead of them has already walked this ground.
About the Writer
Effie Kolbeins is a newbie to the field of IT --
she has a degree in Elementary Education and recently made a career change
to Web development. She has been studying the challenge of empowering
young women to become competent and confident in the field of computers
for over six years. Convinced that a concerted effort from a grassroots
effort will be needed, Effie is delighted to be part of SAGE. She can
be reached at effie@effiedesigns.com.
