[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16094-16095]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY

  Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President. Today I would like to recognize women in 
technology. While gender equity is not found on the agenda when 
discussing homeland security, it certainly is a key strategy for 
maintaining our Nation's preeminent status in science and technical 
innovation. The last 30 years have seen women make great strides in 
education and employment. Women are receiving more than 50 percent of 
the bachelor degrees conferred and are close to reaching parity in the 
once male-dominated fields, such as law. Unfortunately, these gains 
have not been uniform in all fields. Women continue to be persistently 
underrepresented in high-demand, high-wage science, technology, 
engineering and math, STEM, education and employment. While women make 
up 46 percent of the American labor force, they are less than 25 
percent of the total science and engineering workforce, and have not 
been able to break through a 10 percent ceiling in engineering.
  At a time when we face a shortage of skilled STEM workers who are 
U.S. citizens, women provide an untapped national resource to fill the 
workforce pipeline. Recent studies from the National Science Foundation 
and the Department of Commerce confirm these conclusions, including the 
September 2000 Report of the Congressional Commission on the 
Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering and 
Technology, which concludes that,

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``Unless the STEM labor market becomes more representative of the 
general U.S. workforce, the nation may likely face severe shortages in 
[STEM] workers and thus risks undermining its global competitiveness.''
  We are at a serendipitous time, when our Nation's economic and 
security imperatives are aligned with social justice. We must leverage 
this opportunity to build the requisite partnerships with stakeholders 
in government, academia, and industry to recruit, train, and retain 
women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields. Not only is it a 
strategy that will ensure our global competitiveness and national 
security, but it is the right thing to do to ensure that all our 
citizens have equal access to the education and training needed to 
succeed.
  In 1999, when I recognized that the jobs at the Maui High Performance 
Computer Center and other related research and development contract 
activities were being filled by males recruited from the mainland, I 
secured Department of Labor funding to launch the Women in Technology 
project designed to bring Hawaii's women into these emerging STEM 
fields. The island of Maui reflects the characteristics of many rural 
American communities: professional isolationism, limited access to 
higher education, overdependence on a single economic engine, and 
perceived limited career opportunities for its young people. These 
conditions uniquely position Maui to pilot workforce development 
programming that can be exported to other rural communities.
  The Women in Technology, WIT, project is administered by the Maui 
Economic Development Board, a private nonprofit organization well 
respected for its leadership in helping to diversify the economy 
through high technology industry development. The board of directors, 
comprised of community leaders in industry, academia, business, and 
government gave the project access to key partners. Interviews, focus 
groups, and roundtable discussions helped establish the workforce 
challenges and skill sets needed to sustain industry growth 
projections. Workshops were designed to provide tools to educators and 
industry on how to overcome the barriers that had created the chilly 
climate for women. Buy-in was established that even though teachers and 
employers had no intent to track girls and women into different fields 
than boys and men, long-established cultural stereotypes of gender 
roles were imbedded throughout society and insidious messages of what 
were appropriate female jobs versus male jobs were very strong. The WIT 
project provides ongoing technical assistance to educators, guidance 
counselors, and industry partners on recruitment and retention skills 
to overcome these societal barriers.
  We must start young. By middle school our girls lose interest in math 
and science, unless proactive efforts are exerted. In a survey of Maui 
students, boys were five times more likely than girls to express 
interest in careers in computer science and engineering. Despite the 
fact that girls outperformed boys academically in math and science, 
their personal esteem in these areas was significantly lower and they 
did not self-select into the physical sciences. After compiling a 
database of female industry role models, WIT has developed a multitrack 
program to keep girls engaged in the STEM pipeline. Job shadowing 
programs, career days, science camps, and mentoring are anchor events 
in the program designed to influence career intent.
  Attrition has been another factor in keeping the number of women in 
STEM low. Mentoring has been identified as the most successful 
intervention strategy. WIT successfully negotiated with MentorNet, a 
Presidential award winning program that has been deployed at elite 
engineering research universities. Maui Community College was accepted 
into MentorNet's first community college cohort and the program has 
significantly reduced the female attrition from its STEM courses.
  The Women in Technology project continues to work with local industry 
to develop internship and apprenticeship programs. Four years later, 
the number of women in technical employment at the Maui Research & 
Technical Park has gone from 0 percent in November 1999 to 23 percent 
in June 2004. This is the direct result of a local industry and 
education commitment to build a qualified resident workforce that 
reflects the diverse demographics of its community, including gender 
balance.
  We must use this time when both our Nation's security and its 
economic strength are dependent on producing more citizens trained in 
STEM fields, to assure that we do not perpetuate the climate which has 
precluded women and minorities from entering these fields. Gender 
equity in science, technology, engineering, math, education, and 
employment equals homeland security.

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