March 2011
STEM EQUITY PIPELINE NEWS
NAPE 2011 Professional Development Institute "Equity Matters in College and Careers"
April 11-14, 2011
Doubletree Crystal City, Arlington, VA
Rebecca
Spkye Keiser, Associate Deputy Administrator for Policy Integration, NASA,
will be Thursday's luncheon speaker.
Can you only attend for one day? Consider these registration options:
Tuesday, full day, includes breakfast, luncheon, and reception: $190
Tuesday, 3-hour opening seminar, includes breakfast: $55
Tuesday, luncheon: $70
Wednesday, full day: $190
Thursday, full day (until noon): $190
Silent Auction is Tuesday, April 12, 2011, 5:00 pm
Don't forget to bring your donations of unique items, state-specific products, or
equity-related items for our silent auction. Popular items to donate include jewelry,
equity-related books and DVDs, unique items produced in your state, or handmade
items. And, bring your wallet, too! Some items already received for the silent auction
include a Garmin GPS, a Kindle with case, and a weekend getaway at the Doubletree
Crystal City Hotel.
If you are attending the NAPE PDI you may drop off your items at the registration
desk. If you are not attending the NAPE PDI but would like to donate, please mail
your items by April 6 to Joyce Ayers 3157 Limestone Road, Suite 202, Cochranville,
PA 19330 (UPS or FedEx) or P.O. Box 369, Cochranville, PA 19330 (U.S. Mail).
All proceeds are used to support the NAPE Education Foundation and its projects
and are tax deductible.This event is included in your registration fee.
Learn more about the
PDI at the NAPE website.
NEWS FROM WASHINGTON
President Obama Meets with Fresh Science Talent
Keeping his commitment to honor remarkable science and math scholars just like sports
champions, President Obama today welcomed 40 high school finalists of the Intel
Science Talent Search to the White House.
Learn More
Women@NASA: Inspiring Girls to Reach for the Stars
White House Senior Advisor and Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls
Valerie Jarrett joined NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and astronaut Tracy
Caldwell Dyson and talked to a group of almost 200 girls about the importance of
science and technology education.
Learn More
Interior Secretary Salazar Praises Skyline's STEM Students
(Victoria A.F. Camron, Longmont Times-Call)
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar was impressed Monday with a group of Skyline High
School's STEM students, he said after a tour at Ball Aerospace. "They were wonderful,"
Salazar said of 10 students in the school's science, technology, engineering and
math program. Salazar toured Ball's Boulder facility and saw the company's work
on the Operational Land Imager instrument, which is being developed for the next
Landsat observation satellite, according to a news release from the U.S. Department
of the Interior and Ball Aerospace.
Read More
ARTICLES
Award-winning UIC Program Helps Women Enter Science World
(Sandra Guy, Chicago Sun-Times, Summary from ACTE)
The University of Illinois at Chicago's Women in Science and Engineering (WISE)
program was recognized for President Obama's Presidential Award for Excellence in
Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. WISE includes a mentoring program
that matches incoming first-year college students with successful WISE students
based on their majors and career goals. It includes a dedicated residence hall for
participants, scheduled events for members, and planned outreach at area schools.
WISE also encourages undergrads to do independent research with a faculty member
so they feel connected to the work they will do in their careers.
Learn More
Inoculation Against Stereotype
(Insider Higher Education)
New research provides evidence that female instructors may be key to encouraging
talented female STEM students to stay in those disciplines. The research, just published
in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (abstract available here), is
based on a study at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst comparing the behavior
of female and male students in introductory calculus course sections taught by male
and female instructors.
Learn More
Why the U.S. Must Promote Engineering
(Sophie Vandebroek, Business Week)
America will suffer in global competition without reengineering its attitudes toward
engineering, argues Xerox's technology chief.
Read More
Helping STEM Take Root
(Ron Schachter, District Administration)
Over the past two years, the STEM movement has shown signs of taking root, as district
leaders say they are finding public and private funding to develop STEM-related
curricula, ramping up professional development, and even launching dedicated STEM
academies from San Antonio to Baltimore. School districts ramp up science, technology,
engineering and math curriculum as it gains more attention locally and nationally.
Read More
Do Smartphones Boost Math Achievement Among At-risk Students?
(Sara Bernard, KQED)
The director of nonprofit Project K-Nect says the group's programs have been successful
in boosting academic achievement in math among the majority of low-income and at-risk
students. The program, currently in place in three states, aims to foster collaborative
science, technology, engineering and math learning using smartphones and social
networking. "The bottom line is we see increased student achievement and engagement
because this is a media that students feel comfortable utilizing," Shawn Gross,
the director, said.
Read More
Why We Still Need Events for Women in Science And Industry
(Emily Jasper, Forbes)
In her blog, Emily Jasper writes that she was recently asked to speak at a virtual
conference on women in science and encountered some skeptics of whether such conferences
were still needed. Jasper argues that they are, in part because of the way women
generally network.
Read More
Survey: Districts Lack STEM Funding, Professional Development
(eSchool News)
Though STEM educators highly value technology's presence and potential in the classroom,
they cited a lack of funding and professional development for teachers as two major
roadblocks in creating 21st century classrooms in their districts, according to
a new survey from research and consulting firm Interactive Educational Systems Design.
Read More
Educators Refocus on Real-Life Problems to Make Computer Science More Relevant
(Jenna Johnson, Washington Post)
As Virginia Tech and other universities train a new generation of computer scientists,
professors are asking students to create programs that address real-life problems,
often through handy, smartphone-ready apps. It's a break from traditional coursework
such as sorting lists of numbers or re-creating programs that already exist.
Read More
Gains, and Drawbacks, for Female Professors
(Kate Zernike, New York Times)
When the Massachusetts Institute of Technology acknowledged 12 years ago that it
had discriminated against female professors in "subtle but pervasive" ways, it became
a national model for addressing gender inequity. Now, an evaluation of those efforts
shows substantial progress - and unintended consequences. Among other concerns,
many female professors say that M.I.T.'s aggressive push to hire more women has
created the sense that they are given an unfair advantage. Those who once bemoaned
M.I.T.'s lag in recruiting women now worry about what one called "too much effort
to recruit women.
Read More
Read Report
Natalie Portman, Oscar Winner, Was Also a Precocious Scientist
(Natalile Angier, New York Times)
The Intel Science Talent Search is considered the nation's most elite and demanding
high school research competition, attracting the crème de la milk-fats-encased-in-a-phospholipid-and-protein-membrane
of aspiring young scientists. Victors and near-victors in the 69-year-old contest
have gone on to win seven Nobel Prizes in physics or chemistry, two Fields Medals
in mathematics, a half-dozen National Medals in science and technology, a long string
of MacArthur Foundation "genius" grants - and now, an Academy Award for best actress
in a leading role.
Read More
Alaska Women in Science on Being Women in Science
(Ned Rozell, Alaska Science Forum, summary from ACTE)
Ned Rozell, a science writer for the Geophysical Institute, sent a questionnaire
to a few Alaska women scientists who have excelled at their craft for a few decades.
He summarizes the responses from two women, who discuss the greatest hurdles they
faced in their careers, the way "public perception [has] changed about women scientists,"
and their advice for young women considering careers in STEM fields.
Read More
Breaking New Ground: Building a National Workforce Skills Credentialing System
(ACT)
This report examines the role of community colleges and critical trends in workforce
development, in addition to presenting a national action plan that addresses the
current mismatch between employment skills and demand.
Learn More
The Progress of State College Access Challenge Grant Programs
A new WICHE Western Policy Exchanges brief highlights the ongoing progress of state
CACG projects in Alaska, Nevada, North Dakota, and Washington. The brief provides
project overviews and outcomes, as well as the challenges each state faces as they
move forward with their efforts to increase the college participation and completion
of underrepresented students.
Learn
More
Questioning a White Male Advantage in STEM: Examining Disparities in College Major
by Gender and Race/Ethnicity
(Catherine Riegle-Crumb and Barbara King)
The authors analyze national data on recent college matriculants to investigate
gender and racial/ethnic disparities in STEM fields, with an eye toward the role
of academic preparation and attitudes in shaping such disparities. Results indicate
that physical science/engineering (PS/E) majors are dominated by men, but not, however,
disproportionately by White men.
Learn More
RESOURCES
Innovate: Fueling Change communicates a story of engineering and the environment,
diversity, and teamwork.
The Faces of Science
blog is moderated by a female astrophysicist to teach the world about the real people
behind the science.
Women
in Science is a forum about issues of parity and the female experience in
science and engineering.
The Institute for Broadening
Participation designs and implement strategies to increase access to STEM
education and careers for all students, and particularly those from diverse underrepresented
groups.
Basics About Disabilities and Science and Engineering Education
introduces basic facts and data, as well as case studies and new methods being tried
in higher education classrooms.
The Lemelson-MIT
Program is dedicated to supporting and encouraging invention, and seeks
to inspire students and rising inventors.
Dow hosted The Future of Women
in Chemistry and Science as the first of a series of reflections and celebrations.
Smithsonian comics celebrate women in science.
Google will select 30 aspiring computer scientists to attend Computer Science Summer Institute.
The Book of Potentially Catastrophic Science: 50 Experiments for
Daring Young Scientists gives the opportunity to learn about scientific
principles through engaging, fun experiments rated on a "catastrophe meter.
Science Club for Girls STEM to contribute a A Letter to my Young Self.
Top 10 Things That Women Invented
Geek Squad Summer
Academy inspires today's youth to discover more about our digitally-connected
world.
Faces of Computing
links to stories created by Computer Science students about the excitement and diversity
of computer science careers.
Exploring
Computational Thinking from Google Engineers and Teachers
AIAA Foundation:
Grants for Excellence in Math, Science, Technology and Engineering
Toshiba America Foundation: Grants
for Math and Science
Northrop Grumman ES Engineering Scholarships
American Honda Foundation Grants
SAVE THE DATE
The Art of Science Learning: Shaping the 21st-Century Workforce
April 6-7, 2011 in Washington, DC; May 16-17, 2011 in Chicago; June 14-15, 2011
in San Diego
NGCP April Webcast Engaging and Supporting Latinas in STEM, April 7, 2011,
11:00 AM Pacific
U.S. Chamber of Commerce: The Case for Being Bold: A New Agenda for Business in Improving
STEM Education, Washington, DC, April 13, 2011, 12:00-5:00 pm ET
Webinar: K-12
Outreach that Makes a Difference: Attracting K-12 Students to Computing,
April 14, 2011, 10 am Pacific
CSCP Webinar: Engaging
Latino Youth in Computer Science: Current Research and Program Models, May
12, 2011, 10:00 AM Pacific
AAUW National Convention:
Breaking through Barriers--Advocating for Change, Washington, DC, June 16-19, 2011
Advancing
Girls in STEM: An NCGS Symposium: Wellesley, MA, June 21, 2011
ASEE 8th Annual K-12 Workshop on Engineering Education:
Collaboration Can Improve Engineering Education, British Columbia, Canada, June
25, 2011
CTEEC National Conference: Equity
Works, Tulsa, OK, November 16-17, 2011
League for Innovation in the
Community College: Second Annual STEMtech Conference, Indianapolis, IN,
October 2-5, 2011
Call for Proposals deadline is April 15.
DISCLAIMER
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the material
published in the NAPE Update are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect
the views of NAPE. Furthermore, inclusion of a product, program, or practice in
the NAPE Update does not imply its endorsement by NAPE.
MATERIALS USE POLICY
Please note that material found on NAPE's website or distributed via any other means
and created by the NAPE and/or the NAPE Education Foundation is copyrighted.
Learn more about the materials use policy