NAPE Website

National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity Education Foundation
P.O. Box 369, Cochranville, PA 19330
Phone: 610-593-8038 Fax: 610-593-7283
Email: NAPE@napequity.org

Funded by the National Science
Foundation HRD-0734056

March 2009
STEM Equity Pipeline News

ARTICLES

Tech Education Will Get Some Funding From Stimulus Effort

(Sheila Riley, Investor's Business Daily)
Science, tech, engineering and math education in the nation's K-12 classrooms will get a boost from federal stimulus money, though details are still being finalized.
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Hey Ladies, Re-enter the Tech Work Force

Women of technology, listen up: There is a growing demand for your talents, especially for those who left temporarily or for the long haul to focus on having and raising families. According to the Wall Street Journal, many high-tech companies are seeking the skill sets of women who may have left high-paying careers. Some well-known and smaller companies are implementing what are known as job re-entry programs.
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Lifestyle Choices Steer Women Away from STEM Careers

Women don't choose careers in math-intensive fields, such as computer science, physics, technology, engineering, chemistry, and higher mathematics, because they want the flexibility to raise children, or because they prefer other fields of science that are less math-intensive-not because they lack mathematical ability, according to a new study.
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Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Centers and Community Colleges: Increasing Underrepresented Minorities Participating in STEM Fields

ATE Centers and Projects have made it a priority to reach out of underrepresented populations by providing opportunities for exposure to new fields and academic support to succeed in postsecondary education. The programs highlighted at this forum described their programs and efforts to serve these student populations.
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Generating Public Consensus and Urgency for STEM Education

(Patrick Richards, EdNews)
In this editorial, Patrick R. Riccards writes that states and school districts must move into a mode of advocacy and social marketing on behalf of Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics (STEM) education, "effectively linking K-12 education and economy and demonstrating the urgency for improvement to both."
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Why Businesses Must Push Science Education

(Terry Waghorn, Forbes)
There's an argument taking place about America's dwindling stock of talent in science, technology, engineering and math. It is not an abstract argument; its outcome will affect our livelihoods for generations to come. In one corner you have people like writer Daniel Pink, who argues in his book, A Whole New Mind, that we are moving from "an economy and a society built on the logical, linear, computer-like capabilities of the Information Age to an economy and society built on the inventive, empathetic, big-picture capabilities of what's rising in its place, the Conceptual Age." In the opposing corner you have people like Gregory S. Babe, president and chief executive officer of the Bayer Corporation, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical and advanced materials companies. Babe, who holds a mechanical engineering degree, thinks people who show equal strength on both sides of the left-brain, right-brain divide are invaluable not only to a science-driven company like Bayer, but also to, say, an advertising or staffing firm.
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MIT President Inspirational to Oakland Tech Students

(Jessica Lipsky, Daily Review Online)
MIT President Suzanne Hockfield's brief visit to Oakland Technical High School left many students inspired and much more confident about pursuing a career in engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology's first female president and first biologist to head the school, came to discuss higher education and commend the high school's Parker Merrill Engineering Academy. She believes that STEM education isn't highly valued in American culture and praised Oakland Tech's program for its extraordinary strength and ingenuity.
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Lockheed Martin Hosts "Minorities in Engineering Day"

(Bennie Scarton, Jr., InsideNOVA.com)
Lockheed Martin employees recently introduced more than 50 minority students to career possibilities in engineering. Students from seven local high schools participated in the company's third annual "Minorities in Engineering Day" event at its Manassas facility. The students participated in a hands-on engineering challenge designed to build skills in teamwork, problem-solving and the ability to work within specific constraints and requirements.
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State Joins Equity in Sciences Project

(Lini Ge, Daily Iowan)
Kristin Mirocha met some other women in a living-learning community before attending her first class freshman year at the UI - and four years later, she's still good friends with them. Mirocha's community was part of the UI's Women in Science and Engineering program, which provides academic and social support to 85 first- and second-year women majoring in science, technology, engineering, and math annually. "It also allowed me to meet all sorts of majors, which initiated insightful debates and conversations," said the 21-year-old senior, who is studying interdepartmental health sciences.
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