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Girls and Women in Science & Math Initiative 
           Accomplishments--Fall 1995
    
            
              Dr. Sally Ride
              Dr. Paula Levin
             Tam O'Shaughnessy


     During the past three months (October 1,1995 to December 31,1995), we have begun the development of the Girls and Women in Science & Math Initiative. The long-range goals of this initiative are: to encourage and motivate girls and women to enter careers in science and math; to promote successful participation by girls and women in mathematics and science educational environments; and to increase general access and equity for girls and women in these disciplines. The primary goal during during the fourth quarter of 1995 was to begin laying a foundation of knowledge, contacts, and resources upon which future activities will be built Toward this achieving this objective, we initiated the following work:

I.   Database of Organizations and Resources
     We created a database to store and 
     organize information about all types of 
     organizations (public and private; local 
     and national; research and programmatic) 
     which address issues in the domain of 
     women in science and math.


II.   Statistics on Gender Differences in Math and Science
      We gathered and compiled the existing 
      national statistics about the 
      participation, attitudes and achievement 
      of girls and women in science and math 
      (see enclosed Figures 1-5). In the area of 
      achievement,for example,the data show 
      that girls and women achieve higher grade 
      point averages across all subject areas 
      and across all grade levels than do boys 
      and men. Even so, proportionally fewer 
      college women chose to major in math and 
      science despite their coursework success 
      in these subjects. 


III.   Programs and Organizations
       We contacted numerous programs and  
       organizations which are involved in math 
       and science education and 
       extracurricular activities to motivate 
       girls to explore careers in science and 
       math. In addition we talked about the 
       initiative issues with the following: 
          Southern California school districts
          UCSD Teacher Education Program
          National Science Teacher Association
          National Council for Teachers of Mathematics
          Teach for America--Math & Science Initiative
          Girls Inc.
          Project EQUALS (Lawrence Hall of Science,  
          UC Berkeley)

[[marginalia indicates "talked to" Girls, Inc. and Project EQUALS]]