Women Scientists and Engineers Employed in Industry Why So Few? (1994) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix A: Approaching Change
Appendix A: Approaching Change
Pages 113-126
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From page 113... ...
Terms like global interdependence, economic competitiveness, and New world orders have become part of our daily lexicon, and we know that they have profound consequences for how Americans conduct business and view national security. There are also growing complexities and urgencies regarding how we deal with human rights around the world and human welfare at home.
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From page 114... ...
Human resources are vital to progress in science and technology, and in a competitive global economy, we cannot afford to ignore or squander them. Women and minority groups are substantially underrepresented in science and engineering.
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From page 115... ...
By the end of the decade, women and minorities will constitute a majority of the net new entrants to the work force. Our ability to compete in a global economy, which means our economic security, will be determined in large measure by how well we train these people and the extent to which society utilizes their talents.
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From page 116... ...
When we consider women of color, we must be careful to recognize the very real double jeopardy they may experience. In the case of African American women, we need to bear in mind that they are traditionally expected to protect men.
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From page 117... ...
This is true even in the absence of intentional discrimination. This is sometimes called a triple penalty or an interconnected set of relationships: the cultural attitude that science is an inappropriate field for women leads to discrimination; discrimination leads to a reduction in the motivation of women workers; and loss of motivation leads to reduction in women's performance.
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From page 118... ...
The same responsibility has not been assigned to women historically. This is now changing as women enter the work force In greater numbers, not simply out of a passion to do science but for economic reasons as well.
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From page 119... ...
Women are a part of this culture only to the extent that they explicitly embrace and deal with the five Rs. Until one is part of that culture and successful, it is very hard to make it adapt.
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From page 120... ...
Is it an association society perceives between science and engineering and military and destructive purposes? Was it the early and widely held beliefs that women's intellects were much less developed than men's and that they were incapable of undertaking science and mathematics?
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From page 121... ...
The greater flexibility in the work schedule in academia may very well be a part of it, and the role that students play in universities may be important too in that the number of women attending colleges and universities has increased greatly since the 1960s. This expansion may have enabled the social system to change more rapidly on campuses than in industry, which has remained male-dominated.
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From page 122... ...
Metaphors To Stimulate Understanding and Communication With these two issues, and that set of themes, let me now suggest some metaphors that may be useful in understanding and communicating the underparticipation of women in the industrial work force of the United States. Let me also caution you to use the metaphors very carefully, lest they limit or misdirect your thinking.
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From page 123... ...
She showed us how the dynamics of a classroom change when women become at least 15 percent of the group. What we need to do, then, is to recognize that the adaptation I have called for will come about more easily as more women move into the work force and as they become distributed more evenly.
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From page 124... ...
The first is Bernadette Nelson, who is a consultant in a firm that serves manufacturing and service companies and who is visiting us right now at Radcliffe College. She is working closely with corporations as they try to deal with the changing demography and cope with the diversification of their work forces.
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From page 125... ...
The need to accommodate a diverse work force is only one of the reasons why our approach to work needs to change. Other factors include the downsizing of the work force and the need to work in a much more interdependent environment.
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From page 126... ...
As for the strategies that successful women use, Driscoll and Goldberg have identified several. They include developing leadership skills in women's networking organizations, assuming active roles in mainstream businesses and organizations, and thereby influencing the development of social and economic policy.
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