[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 55 (Tuesday, April 12, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1913-S1915]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Mr. Peters, Mrs. Murray, Mrs. 
        Gillibrand, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Markey, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. 
        Booker, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Merkley, and Ms. Mikulski):
  S. 2784. A bill to ensure that Federal science agencies and 
institutions of higher education receiving Federal research and 
development funding are fully engaging the entire national talent pool, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 
and Pensions.
  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, today April 12, is Equal Pay Day. Equal 
Pay Day means women have to work more than 4 months longer to catch up 
to what, on average, men made in 2015. This significant pay disparity 
has been going on for decades--generations--even though it is against 
the law and

[[Page S1914]]

has been against the law since the passage of the Equal Pay Act in 
1963.
  The gender pay gap persists across all States and nearly all 
occupations. As we seek to build a 21st-century workforce, more than 73 
million working women are at a disadvantage because of pay inequity and 
other barriers based on gender. While we have come a ways from the days 
of overt pay discrimination--such as in the 1930s, when the Federal 
Government, no less, required women to be paid 25 percent less than 
their male counterparts--the pay gap persists.
  It is bad enough that women with equal education and experience get 
paid less, but it gets worse. A recent New York University study found 
that when women begin to enter predominately male occupations, pay in 
those fields decrease overall. For example, when women began to pursue 
careers in design, wages dropped more than 30 percent. When they 
entered careers in biology, wages dropped 18 percent. The study also 
showed the converse. When men entered fields previously dominated by 
women, such as computer programming, wages increased.
  The bottom line is that these studies show that women's work is less 
valued than men's work. This discrimination won't change because we 
don't like it or because we hope it will. It will only begin to change 
if we take action. That is why I joined Senator Mikulski in continuing 
our call to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. This legislation would 
allow women to compare their salaries without fearing retaliation. How 
can a woman find out if there is pay discrimination going on in her 
workplace if she can't even find out what others are being paid? The 
bill would also require employers to prove that differences in pay for 
men and women doing the same work are not related to gender.
  While the gender pay gap affects all women, this morning I want to 
focus on inequity in the fields of science, technology, engineering, 
and math--also known as STEM. Nationally, we need to promote STEM to 
remain competitive in the global economy. STEM careers are among the 
highest paid positions and are some of the most sought after by 
employers. In order to keep our country's historical leadership in STEM 
over the next decade, economists say we need to create a million more 
STEM careers than we are currently creating. We will lose our 
competitive edge unless the number of women earning STEM degrees keeps 
pace with their growing share of the population. But, of course, women 
in the STEM fields earn less than men. For example, on average, women 
engineers earn just 82 percent of what their male counterparts earn. 
Female doctors' starting salaries are almost $20,000 less than their 
male counterparts, even after accounting for factors such as specialty 
and location.
  In addition to facing lower wages, women in STEM must often overcome 
institutional barriers, cultural stereotypes, and sexual harassment. 
These barriers permeate every level of the STEM career pipeline. They 
start as early as middle school and continue throughout one's career 
and lead to women and minorities disproportionately giving up interest 
in STEM careers.
  At the University of Hawaii at Manoa, men earned more than five times 
the number of computer science bachelor's degrees as women, and in the 
College of Engineering, men earned three times as many bachelor's 
degrees. These kinds of numbers in STEM education are not unique to 
Hawaii. Even when women overcome the odds and pursue careers in STEM 
fields, they continue to face gender biases that can affect the hiring, 
promotion, and career advancement for women in STEM. For instance, 
researchers found that women in STEM encountered bias judgments of 
their competence and the ability to be hired. They also received less 
faculty encouragement and financial rewards than identical male 
counterparts when negotiating salary packages.
  Studies show that when women in STEM decide to become mothers, they 
are perceived as less competent and less committed to hard work and are 
offered fewer jobs and lower salaries. In comparison, men are not 
penalized for being fathers. If that wasn't enough, women in STEM often 
experience workplace harassment.
  Recently, in the New York Times, University of Hawaii geobiology 
professor Hope Jahren shared an email that was sent to a former student 
from a male colleague who works in the same lab as the student. This 
email read in part this:

       All I know is that from the first day I talked to you, 
     there hadn't been a single day or hour when you weren't on my 
     mind. That's just the way things are and you're gonna have to 
     deal with me until one of us leaves.

  In the age of social media, these kinds of totally inappropriate 
emails are all too common. According to Professor Jahren, this former 
student feels that she cannot rely on human resources because she heard 
stories from female colleagues about how sexual harassment happens 
``all the time'' in their organization and that no action is taken.
  These stories are all too common. Again, merely condemning this kind 
of environment is not enough. Merely hoping that change will occur is 
not enough. We can and must do more to even the playing field for women 
in STEM, and that is why I am introducing the STEM Opportunities Act 
today, so we can combat the systemic issues that can lead to women 
losing interest in STEM and leaving STEM careers basically in droves.
  The STEM Opportunities Act helps Federal science agencies and 
institutions of higher education identify and share best practices to 
overcome barriers that can affect the inclusion of women and other 
underrepresented groups in STEM. The STEM Opportunities Act also allows 
universities and nonprofits to receive competitive grants and 
recognition for mentoring women and minorities in STEM fields. 
Mentoring programs such as the Maui Economic Development Board's Women 
in Technology Program and the Native Hawaiian Science and Engineering 
Mentorship Program at the University of Hawaii have seen tremendous 
success.
  The Women in Technology Program supports those like Deanna Garcia, 
who was first introduced to STEM through Women in Technology and is now 
a mentor to girls who want to follow in her footsteps.
  Deanna said:

       Women in Technology gave me the skills, confidence, and 
     support I needed. Because of their networking and strong ties 
     within the community, I was not only able to find an 
     internship, but a career in IT. Because of the Women in 
     Technology program, I can also pay it forward to current 
     students and show them during career days or tours I am a 
     product of the program and hope to inspire them to pursue a 
     path in STEM just like I did.

  Deanna's story is just one of many successes that programs like Women 
in Technology have.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have the testimonials on 
the success of existing STEM programs printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                Senator Mazie K. Hirono--April 12, 2016

 Extension of Remarks: Testimonials From Hawaii STEM Mentoring Programs


      maui economic development board women in technology program

    Deanna Garcia, TMDS-MSAT Analysis Team Manager, Akimeka LLC, A 
                     Subsidiary of VSE Corporation

       ``Technology and Engineering are known to be male dominated 
     fields, however, the Women in Technology program empowered me 
     to succeed in an IT Career. I got my start almost fifteen 
     years ago because of the WIT program. They gave me the 
     skills, confidence, and support I needed and because of their 
     networking and strong ties within the community, I was not 
     only able to find an internship, then job, but a career in 
     IT. They also lead by example and have strong, driven, 
     impactful women leading the way. Because of the WIT program, 
     I can also pay it forward to current students and show them 
     during career days or tours I'm a product of the program and 
     hope to inspire them to pursue a path in STEM, just like I 
     did.''

            Kawai Hall, Integrity Applications Incorporated

       ``Since there are fewer women with technology-related 
     degrees, it is harder for work industries to recruit women in 
     these fields. I think Women In Technology is an amazing 
     project to help bring awareness of STEM-related work 
     opportunities to girls and women, especially here in Hawaii 
     where it is prime. Our company is made of mostly men but I 
     haven't felt the effect of gender in my workplace. Everyone 
     works greatly as a team and helps each other advance in 
     learning. But it would be great to have more females added to 
     our workplace.''

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                    Audrey Cabrera, Brown & Caldwell

       ``After having my second child I've had a hard time finding 
     my balance and feeling like I am fulfilling my roles as 
     employee, mother, and wife. Although we have come so far in 
     terms of women in the professional workforce and specifically 
     STEM careers, the statistics remain that a large portion of 
     women migrate out of their STEM career in their 30's, when 
     they are growing their families. My company is great, with 
     fair pay and good benefits, but I feel that there are some 
     double standards/expectations that probably aren't specific 
     to my company, but in our society in general.''

Kimberly Vaituulala, Maui Electric Company (MECO) mentor for Introduce 
                    a Girl to Engineering Day (IGED)

       ``Society has taught young girls to care for their baby 
     dolls or encouraged to play ``house'' with their Barbie 
     dolls. Meanwhile boys are building structures with Legos and 
     playing outside, messing around with their bikes to see what 
     they can do to make it go faster or make it look and sound 
     cooler as they ride by. This beginning transitions into 
     college where the number of boys dominate science and math 
     courses. For me, the significance of IGED is to show these 
     young ladies that engineering/technology IS cool and it's not 
     just for boys. IGED gives these ladies an opportunity to see 
     real people working in STEM careers, and broadens the horizon 
     for these up and coming females. Igniting a spark of interest 
     in just one of the 15 girls in the group makes this effort 
     completely worth it. . . .
       ``Women are physiologically and psychologically different 
     from men. In order to solve the engineering problems of this 
     world, the men cannot do it alone. It is vitally important 
     for women (of all ages) to be exposed to and consider a 
     career in engineering. The different perspective that women 
     can bring to forth might be the key to making cold fusion a 
     reality one day.
       ``In college I was one of three girls in my electrical 
     engineering classes. But I know more girls are getting 
     involved in STEM related fields and careers, and it can be 
     attributed to programs like IGED. Sometimes girls need that 
     extra push. Someone to tell them, ``Go! You can do it too!'' 
     And as long as we can sustain STEM programs like IGED, this 
     trend for girls will continue on upward.''

  Native Hawaiian Science & Engineering Mentorship Program (NHSEMP), 
       University of Hawaii at Manoa Kaiho'olulu Rickard, mentee

       ``[NHSEMP] helped me focus on my studies and set goals. 
     They got me started with a mentor who's been helping me out 
     with choosing good projects to work on . . . I was introduced 
     to [researcher] Lloyd French, and after that I really began 
     to get involved in projects like MMIC, or Monolithic 
     Microwave Integrated Circuit, and JPL, which is the NASA Jet 
     Propulsion Laboratory. . . .
       ``I've really gotten involved in what I'm doing here. My 
     freshman year, my grades weren't so good. I had about a 2.0 
     GPA then. So, after I joined the program, I was given my own 
     small office, and working with a mentor, basically helped me 
     pull my GPA up to a 3.0 in two semesters.''

  Ms. HIRONO. I thank Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas. Her 
legislation laid the groundwork for the STEM Opportunities Act. I also 
wish to thank Senators Peters, Murray, Gillibrand, Blumenthal, Markey, 
Cantwell, Booker, Schatz, and Merkley for supporting this effort. 
Working together, I know we can do better, and I know we will ensure 
that women who want to pursue STEM careers can do so in a supportive 
environment without fear of harassment.
  On Equal Pay Day, we are reminded of how far we have to go to achieve 
equality, and I urge my colleagues to support the Paycheck Fairness 
Act, the STEM Opportunities Act, and other legislation that will help 
close the gender gap in our workforce.

                          ____________________