Browse archives: 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995

Published on 04/28/1999 All articles from this issue

AAUW member works to bridge tech gap among young women

printer friendly version

By Linda Taaffe / Town Crier Staff Writer

Walk into any high-tech firm, engineering office or science lab, and chances are that most of the employees will be men - a statistic Sue Klarreich wants to change.

Since the 1992 American Association of University Women report, "How Schools Shortchange Girls," which revealed that girls have fewer math and science-related experiences than boys, the Los Altos resident has worked to provide girls with more opportunities to explore the sciences.

"Much of what the (women's association) brought into the culture has been helpful in getting teachers to be aware of this," Klarreich said. "Girls have made great strides in catching up with boys in math, but our national research shows that girls still significantly lag behind boys in the computer sciences."

Only 17 percent of high school girls take Advanced Placement science courses, and the number of women who graduate from college with degrees in computer technology is only 27 percent - a 10-percent drop since the 1980s, she said.

Klarreich said girls tend to lose interest in technology and the sciences through conditioning.

"There's not enough emphasis on technology that relates to the kind of things girls are interested in. Things don't have an appeal for them," she said.

Klarreich said intervention programs and exposure to women role models does help many girls maintain their interest in science.

An events coordinator for the American Association of University Women, Los Altos-Mountain View branch, Klarreich helped organize "Tech Time," an after-school science club for girls.

She also helped to organize "Making Technology Work for Girls," a mini-conference for girls in grades 4-8, parents, educators and technology professionals scheduled from 1- 3:30 p.m., Saturday, at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills.

The event will feature keynote speaker Dixie Garr, vice president of Customer Success Engineering at Cisco Systems. She gained national recognition as black engineer of the year for Professional Achievement in 1996.

The conference will offer hands-on technology workshops as well as "Tech Talks," opportunities for girls to meet female technology professionals from local Silicon Valley companies.

Adults attending the event will hear from a panel of experts on "What Works -What Needs Changing." Panelists will include Kathleen Bennett, founder of The Girls' Middle School in Mountain View; Gay Krause, director of the Center for Innovation in Education at Foothill College; Kathy Richardson, senior researcher at Compaq's Network Systems Laboratory; and Telle Whitney, an engineer with Malleable Technologies.

"We want to show girls and adults that technology is fun, doable and a great career choice," Klarreich said. "I hope educators take this card and do things in the classroom that will inspire girls."

Registration is $10 per person. The event is being sponsored by Foothill College and the Girl Scouts of Santa Clara County. For more information, call 941-8135.