National Council for Research on Women Spring Newsletter Reports on Science Conference Held at Barnard on February 7

New York, NY, June 18, 2002—In the Spring 2002 issue of their quarterly newsletter, the National Council for Research on Women (NCRW) summarized a conference held at Barnard on February 7, 2002, titled, Balancing the Equation: Women & Girls in Science, Engineering and Technology: New Directions and Perspectives. A collaboration between the Barnard College Center for Research on Women and the NCRW, the conference featured such symposia as "The Challenges and Rewards of Business and Industry" and "Engaging Youth (K-12): Model Programs and Innovative Directions." Participants included Jane Zimmer Daniels, director of the Henry Luce Foundation; Harold Levy, chancellor of the New York City Board of Education; Nancy Hopkins, professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Alice Deutch, president of BioScreen, Inc.

The conference was centered around the issues raised in the NCRW’s book, Balancing the Equation: Where Are Women and Girls in Science, Engineering and Technology?, released in July 2001. Among other statistics, the book reports that, in 1984, women earned 37 percent of undergraduate computer science degrees, but less than 20 percent of them in 1999. Suggestions to solve such problems include teachers integrating science and technology with the humanities and for colleges and universities to replace gatekeeping courses in computing, physics, and engineering with courses that invite students into these disciplines.

"Although more girls and women than ever are participating in science and technology," the article explains, "women remain underrepresented in many fields and hold relatively few leadership positions."

The conference, the article explains, was not meant to be solely about research, but about practical solutions to the problems discussed. "It is now up to all of us," said executive director of the NCRW, Linda Basch, "to put in place those practices and ways of thinking that will enable women and girls to thrive in the sciences."

One method of action suggested is philanthropy. "We’ve seen a real shift from a focus on giving grants to individual women to ones that support capacity-building and institutional change," said Ruth Sevo of the National Science Foundation.

For more information on the conference, click here.

Contact: Petra Tuomi, Office of Public Affairs, 212-854-7907
James Griffith, Office of Public Affairs, 212-854-7583