AWIS
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ASSOCIATION FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE
Washington Wire
May 2008
Issue II
Greetings!
 
Can't join one of our upcoming Coaching Tele-forums?  Visit our new coaching web site and listen on-line at your convenience.
 
http://www.awiscoaching.org/
 
 
Best regards,
 
Janet Bandows Koster
Executive Director
In This Issue
Education
Government
Science and Health
Careers
Chapter News and Events
Opportunities
Education

Girls' Academic Success Does Not Penalize Boys

AAUW has released the most comprehensive analysis to date on trends in educational achievement by gender, race, ethnicity, and income. The report shows that girls and boys from the fourth grade through the end of college are making steady educational gains. An analysis of data from all 50 states indicates that girls' successes do not come at the expense of boys. 

  

Where the girls are

 
African American and Hispanic women with a BA earn the same as African American and Hispanic men with an AA

The Institute for Women's Policy Research has released "Economic Status of Women of Color in the United States." The data tables include eight economic status indicators as well as additional data on women's earnings by education and occupation. The data are from the 2005 American Community Survey and the 2004-2006 Annual Social and Economic Supplements of the Current Population Survey.

Government
Supreme Court Decision Impacts Women in Academia 
 
Women in academia suffer from significant pay disparities in the workplace even when they hold the same rank as men. The recent Ledbetter decision by the United States Supreme Court holds a number of important lessons for women in academia.
 
 
White House Issues Climate Report
 
Under a court order and four years late, the White House Thursday produced what it called a science-based "one-stop shop" of specific threats to the United States from man-made global warming.
While the report has no new science in it, it pulls together different U.S. studies and localizes international reports into one comprehensive document required by law. The 271-page report is notable because it is something the Bush administration has fought in the past.
 

Too little, too late
Science and Health

Dump the Sunscreen - Eat a Tomato


A new study suggests that eating tomatos can help prevent sunburn and aging caused by the sun.  The tomato's key skin saving property is a powerful antioxidant called 'lycopene', which is able to neutralise or 'quench' the harmful molecules.
 
Painful Symtoms of Endometriosis Increase with Stress

A new study investigates the relationship between stress and the painful symptoms of endometriosis and the negative consequences of stress in relation to the progression of the disease. Researchers believe the progression occurs through an effect on the immune system.

Stress affects severity of endometriosis
 
Careers
U.S. Seriously Lagging in Workplace Flexibility

According to a new report, although there has been progress in workplace practices, high-quality flexible work arrangements are still the exception in the U.S. When lack of flexibility and lack of affordable child care and elder care combine, many women stop paid work altogether, or trade down to a job with more feasible work hours, at the cost of having to work below their professional potential. The report, Statutory Routes to Workplace Flexibility in Cross-National Perspective, from the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) and the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, charts what governments in high income countries are doing to speed up the pace of workplace change.

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Chapter News and Events
 
San Francisco AWIS
 
EVENT:Volunteering Can Boost Your Professional Development
WHEN: June 11th, 2008, 6:30 to 8:30 pm
COST: Free
WHERE: Genentech Inc, Bldg 83 Rm 1A, 611 Gateway Blvd, South San Francisco

RSVP by June 8th via email at [email protected]

For additional information check http://www.sfawis.com/
 
Seattle AWIS
 
EVENT:  Beyond the Research Laboratory:  A Range of Career Paths for Scientists in Industry
WHEN:  June 16th, 2008, 5:00 to 7:00 pm
COST: Free
WHERE: Amgen Inc, 1201 Amgen Court West, Seattle, WA
 
Please RSVP via EVITE by Friday June 6th, 2008.

For more information email [email protected]
 
To add your chapter activities to the Washington Wire and the AWIS web site, please email your listins to [email protected].

Opportunities 
 
Mary Fieser Postdoctoral Program for Women and Minorities
Harvard University will award 12 new postdoc fellowships in chemistry this spring that are aimed at increasing the number of women and minority Ph.D.'s who become professors. Fellows will study for a year in Harvard's department of chemistry and chemical biology, and will have the opportunity to apply for a second year of fellowship money. Click here for a copy of the postdoc application) or apply here.
Deadline: July 15, 2008 Announcement is made on August 15, 2008.

AWARD Fellowship Announcement
The African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) program offers specially tailored 2-year career development fellowships, available at three levels:  post-Bachelors, post- Masters and post-PhD. African women from qualifying countries and conducting research in the following disciplines are strongly encouraged to apply: 
Crop sciences (including horticulture), soil sciences, animal and livestock sciences, plant and animal virology, agroforestry, agricultural economics, aquatic resources and fisheries, food sciences and nutrition, natural resource management and ecology, biodiversity conservation, entomology, agricultural extension education, molecular biology (applied to plant/animal breeding), and water and irrigation management.
Deadline: July 18, 2008
Download application forms here
 
 
 
Quick Links
AWIS Advocacy
AWIS Supports New e-STEM Legislation
On May 21 Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) and Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) introduced legislation aimed at making American students more competitive globally in science fields then they are today.
The legislation, ENHANCING SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION ACT OF 2008, is based on the National Science Board recent Action Plan. It calls on Congress to reorganize the President's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), create an Office of STEM at the U.S. Department of Education, institute a voluntary state Consortium on STEM education, and create a National STEM Education Research Repository.
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