 
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Monday, June 05, 2000
By Carmen J. Lee, Post-Gazette Education Writer
For all its male-dominated, heavy-industry, blue-collar past, Western Pennsylvania is making progress in educating women to assume roles in its high-tech, white-collar future.
Examples can be found across the region of school districts and colleges offering programs that encourage girls and women to pursue careers in math, science and technology.
As newer textbooks become more gender- and race-inclusive, some local universities are expanding efforts across academic disciplines to incorporate more women's accomplishments in their programs.
Some assistance also is available to help women who are moving off welfare rolls to pursue post-secondary education.
It's a quiet revolution and, for some, a slow one. But it's steadily moving forward.
"I believe that in our classrooms, girls are not discriminated against by teachers in terms of their having lower expectations for girls than for boys, particularly in math and science," said Pat Crawford, public affairs director for the Pittsburgh Public Schools.
Al Vaccaro, guidance counselor coordinator for the North Hills School District, said school officials there "always counsel kids based on ability and not on gender." He cited numerous instances of advanced math and science classes with more girls or an equal number of both genders.
"We want them all to take the best classes they can handle," he added. "We don't force them into those, but we encourage them."
Western Pennsylvania reflects in several ways the progress that's been made nationally in addressing women's issues in education.
U.S. Women Connect is a network of national and grassroots women's and girls' groups that promotes implementation of recommendations from the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. It found that across the country women and girls are increasing their numbers in math, science and engineering classes and careers.
Over the past five years, accomplishments of women also are being included more in school curricula and textbooks, said Shari Miles, board secretary for U.S. Women Connect and director of the African American Women's Institute at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
But the group concluded that the United States deserved only a grade of "C" in education and training since the Beijing conference because there's still too much gender stereotyping in textbooks and educational programs and too many instances of the contributions of women being overlooked.
Though the gap between the number of women and men in math and science careers has narrowed, men remain in the majority.
Affirmative action rollbacks in states across the country threaten gains made by women while sexual harassment in schools remains a problem, Miles added.
She also contended that U.S. Women Connect had found that welfare reform was restricting opportunities that women trying to get off assistance had to get post-secondary degrees needed for better pay and benefits.
JoAnne Boyle, president of Seton Hill College in Greensburg, and Esther Barazzone, president of Chatham College in Shadyside, attended the Beijing conference five years ago.
Both said Western Pennsylvania's heavy industry history with its emphasis on the accomplishments of men posed special challenges in efforts to promote the abilities of women.
Barazzone contended, for example, that she believed Pittsburgh has not done enough to celebrate the contributions of pioneering environmentalist and Chatham alumna Rachel Carson.
Still, Boyle said that women's colleges such as Seton Hill, Chatham and Carlow in Oakland have helped to recognize and promote the abilities and accomplishments of women.
"This region is blessed that it has three strong women's colleges that keep women's issues uppermost in their agenda," she said.
Both women were able to cite examples of outreach programs their colleges offer aimed at encouraging girls to pursue majors and careers in math, science and technology.
Chatham also recently built a new science building. Three years ago it started a dual-degree engineering program with Carnegie Mellon University, in which women can earn degrees from both schools. A joint physics major which allows Chatham students to take courses at Carnegie Mellon was created two years ago, though their degrees would be from Chatham.
Carnegie Mellon has long been a standout in offering women opportunities to study math, science and technology with its on-campus support groups and its outreach programs for schoolteachers and female youngsters.
Earlier this year, the university was able to demonstrate how it bucked the national trend of small numbers of women pursuing computer science careers by reporting that 37 percent of this year's freshmen computer science majors were women.
But other local universities are also doing their parts to support female students and the accomplishments of women.
Six years ago, the University of Pittsburgh began an annual, two-week summer diversity seminar for faculty. By the end of the program, each participant must develop a new class syllabus that incorporates the perspectives and accomplishments of women and people of different races.
Through a job readiness program that Pitt operates in conjunction with the city and county, women making the transition from welfare or unemployment can receive up to 26 weeks' paid work experience on campus. One of the goals of the program is to give participants an edge in getting hired full time, thus enabling them to be eligible for significantly reduced tuition costs for themselves and their children.
Over the past year, Duquesne University created a women and gender studies program which pulled together existing courses on women and expanded the class offerings.
A career guidance and awareness program at Community College of Allegheny County provides women getting off welfare with financial aid to attend a two-year post-secondary program as well as job preparation and computer training. The five-week, state-funded program is free to participants.
The state welfare department also helps pay for books, supplies, and child care and transportation expenses of women making the transition from welfare who are pursuing post-secondary degrees.
And, years before the Beijing conference, districts including North Hills, Pittsburgh and Blackhawk in Beaver County created programs designed to encourage girls to consider pursuing math and science careers and to provide them with mentors and role models.
The North Allegheny School District also developed a class for teachers as part of its professional development program that was designed to ensure that teachers understood how to conduct classes that treated girls and boys fairly.