[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 94 (Tuesday, June 29, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H5049]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      INTRODUCTION OF ``GO GIRL''

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask you, what is wrong with this picture? 
Females make up slightly more than 50 percent of this country's 
population, yet less than 30 percent of America's scientists are women. 
Even fewer engineers are women, less than 10 percent.
  In 1994, there were 209 tenured faculty at the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology. Fifteen of those 209 were women. Of course 
these figures are not at all surprising when we learn that in 1985, 
women earned less than 30 percent of the bachelor degrees in the 
physical sciences and less than 10 percent of the bachelor degrees in 
engineering. You do not even want to hear the percentage of Ph.D.s in 
the science and math fields that are earned by women.
  Just to give Members an example, about 8 percent of the Ph.D.s in 
physics in 1988 were awarded to women. Eight percent. My colleagues may 
be asking themselves, ``So what? Is this some national problem?''
  The answer is yes, this is a big problem, a big problem for 
employers, a big problem for women as wage-earners and a big problem 
for our Nation as we compete in the global marketplace.

                              {time}  1845

  The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that between 1994 and the 
year 2005 the number of women in the labor force will grow twice as 
fast as men. Yet a recent study of school-to-work projects found that 
90 percent of girls are clustered in five traditionally female 
occupations.
  My colleagues do not need me to tell them that careers in 
traditionally female occupations pay far less than careers in science, 
math, and technology. For example, a data analyst can expect to earn 
$45,000 a year while a licensed practical nurse makes less than $25,000 
a year. Men become analysts, women become nurses, and a kindergarten 
teacher, mostly females, make only $18,000 a year when they first get 
started as compared to a starting engineer at over $30,000 a year.
  In addition, the National Science Foundation reports that the jobs 
facing workers in the future will require higher skill levels in 
science, math, and technology than ever before. The NSF report is 
verified by a letter that I recently received from the American 
Electronics Association. The AEA wrote to me to tell me that today the 
high tech industry is facing a critical shortage of skilled workers, 
and the future looks even worse they say. A recent AEA report showed 
that the number of degrees in computer science, engineering, 
mathematics, and physics have actually declined since 1990. Quite 
clearly, Mr. Speaker, there is no way that America can have a 
technically competent work force if the majority of students, females, 
do not study science, math, and technology.
  That is why today I am introducing a bill to help school districts 
encourage girls to pursue careers in science, math, and technology. 
Although my bill is titled Getting Our Girls Ready for the 21st Century 
Act, it will be known around here as Go Girl. Go Girl will create a 
bold new work force to energize young women in math, science, and 
technology. Go Girl is modeled after the TRIO program which has 
successfully encouraged 2 million low-income students to attend and 
graduate from college when their parents never attended college.
  Similarly, the lack of female role models hampers female interest in 
studying science, math, and technology. Girls and their parents first 
must be able to envision a career in these fields. Then they need 
practical advice on what to study and how to achieve the necessary 
academic requirements. Go Girl follows girls from the fourth grade, the 
grade when girls typically begin to fall behind boys in math and 
science, and they are followed through high school to encourage these 
young women to be interested in math, to care about science, to want to 
learn technology in the early grades. Girls will participate in events 
and activities that increase their awareness of careers in these 
fields, and they will meet female role models.
  The issue is: Go Girls.

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