a. fish

USNews Poll: Americans want more women in leadership

A survey by Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and the U.S. News & World Report showed:

The poll also showed that 64 percent believe the country would be better off if more women occupied leadership positions, and perhaps surprisingly more men than women believe this -- 69 percent to 61 percent.

So just to be clear:

• 73% of Americans polled lack confidence in their leaders
• 66% believe the US faces a leadership crisis
• 61% of women polled believe the country would be better off with more women leaders
• 69% of men believe we need more women leaders

Women in Science

The topic of Science Friday at Talk of the Nation is Women in Science. You can listen live here to the archive here.

A while back, the National Science Foundation decided to make a concerted effort to put more deversity into science by recruiting more women. It paid off: half of all science Phds earned today are earned by women. But women in science still face some barriers.

While 50% of science Phds are awarded to women, females make up fewer than 15% of college science professors today. The show interviews female science university professors to explore the reasons behind the phenomenon.

UPDATE 8/27/2005: Archive of this episode is here. All Science Friday podcasts available here (thanks to Steve Rhodes for the link.)

How to become a Conference Speaker

UPDATE: From the comments: Elisa Camahort answers! (See below.)

One of the best ideas to emerge from the smash hit conference Blogher was Mary Hodder's suggestion that we keep a list of women willing to speak at conferences. So often a male-dominated blog confab will be followed up with a blogosphere conversation asking "where were all the women speakers?" And so often the response is "we couldn't find any."

There are many books for freelance writers on how to write winning query letters, for job seekers on how to write great cover letters, for aspiring authors on writing winning book proposals.

Anyone out there have tips on how to write a winning conference speaking proposal? All you panelists out there - were you recruited to speak at a conference, or did you apply and persist until you were finally approved? Any tips for first-time conference speakers, how to perform well and be asked to speak in the future?

UPDATE: In the comments, Elisa Camahort shares the surprising variety of avenues the blogHer speakers came to speak last Saturday:

Happy BlogHer Friday!

In case anyone is looking for the exact address of tonight's pre-BlogHer dinner, here it is:

Andiamo Cafe
5220 North 1st Street
San Jose, CA
408.946.3487

[Map]
 
As Elisa Camahort noted, Andiamo is located in a small town called Alviso. But Alviso is technically part of San Jose, which I did not know.

Directions to Andiamo Cafe from the Palo Alto Caltrain station. (Just in case.)

Once I lied to the Wall Street Journal

Someone named Molly just left this comment on Burningbird's essay When We Are Needed:

As one of the very few prominent and visible women in our field, I have the opportunity to directly ask the people that ask me to speak at conferences and participate in events why they choose fewer women. The answer is consistently: “Well we asked so and so and she said no.”

So as much relevance as there is in needing to fix the underlying social issues in getting women to IT in the first place, there’s another concern here too. Women have to take responsibility and STEP UP. The more women that are visible, the stronger and more positive a message we send to young girls world over that they can achieve great things.

Last August I spent 10 days in New York City visiting my brother who lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn. My stay overlapped with the Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden. I hooked up with some SanFran friends who told me about this place called The Progressive Traveler's Bureau at an atrsy venue called The Tank - think of a Democrat's refuge in a city overtaken by riot cops and Republicans. The Tank had all sorts of activites - a big screen TV, refreshments. It was set up with wifi and had a complete bloggers corner - with progressive bloggers! "Blog away" theTank's shift manager said. There were two bloggers sitting on the couch. "Have you met Markos?" the shift manager asked me. Uh, no. I introduced myself to kos of the dailykos. Nice guy. Then I stuck out my hand to the guy next to him, "Hi! I'm Alison."

Sandra Day O'Connor and media visibility

I heard something interesting on the radio about Sandra Day O'Connor a few weeks ago, shortly after the justice announced her retirement. I cannot find the transcript and cannot remember who was speaking - it may have been NPR's Nina Totenberg.

Apparently, O'Connor dislikes media appearances and interviews. But in her early SCOTUS days and even earlier, O'Connor made herself available for every possible media appearance that came her way. O'Connor, as we all now know, was accutely aware of the underrepresentation of women in her profession. And in case you don't know, here's an example: she graduated third in her Stanford Law School class, and upon graduation, only found one law firm offering her a job. A secretarial job.

And within one lifetime, (actually just one professional lifetime, which is less than one lifetime,) women represent over half the student body in law schools today.

Ya ya, post hoc ergo propter joc, I know. X occured before Y but didn't cause Y. But visibility is a part of any political campaign, which is why candidates make all of those yard signs. Just...an interesting little story.

Toys for future scientists, engineers

SFGate: Getting more girls to study math, tech  Panel planning to discuss old issue of disparity with boys

We know women have come a long way, but our country's paucity of female engineers and scientists is absolutely puzzling. While we quibble over the cause of this phenomenon, I can get totally behind one perscription to close this gap: Donna Milgram, executive director of the National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology, and Science, a group based in Alameda, CA, says, "it's important for girls to play with Legos and chemistry sets and develop spatial relationships and problem-solving skills."

My brother Ian had a chemistry set. Since I was prohibited from entering his room, I never got to play with it (his door had no lock, but the invisible mental gate cast by one's older brother can be surprisingly impenetrable.) Behind his bedroom door, I always envisioned this fantasy lab filled with smoldering beakers and test tubes overflowing with vibrantly colored liquids. He was about 10 at the time, and I was 4. In the following years, Christmas after Christmas, I begged for a set from Santa. One never materialized, but we had some other toys in our house and neighborhood, both hand-me-downs and garage sale bargains, which were really fun. It was only later in life that I realized they were educational to boot.

Legos, Lincoln Logs, and Tinkertoys. I don't know if I alone had this epiphany, but Legos made some great houseboats for Barbie and Skipper to cruise around the kiddie pool delta on. If you lacked the deluxe Mattel Barbie dream home,  Lincoln Logs could be stacked high enough for Barbie and Ken's door frame height requirements. And Tinkertoys could at least make a Barbie Teepee or Tent, if all else failed. Could this be how I developed understanding of spatial relationships which helped me in math classes later on? I don't know, but I re-discovered a few more favorites last weekend at Noe Valley's The Ark , a "Quality Toy and Crafts" store on 24th Street in San Francisco.

They were:

My BlogHer Wish

Session: Elbow Sharpening
Young boys spar in the sandbox for sheer entertainment. Girls engage in crafts, house playing, and covert power networking. As adults, women see conflict and backlash as signs that something went wrong. Our guts tell us to minimize error by avoiding messy confrontations. Ambition must be subtle, and under the radar. Evidence shows this comes at a cost: we earn less because we adon't ask for more. Those in power are never challenged; the glass ceiling stands.

This session will cover: whether we should override our gut's veto; when to do it - recognize signals that a "no-win" fight is disguised opportunity;  how to be aggressive with style and precision. The dreaded labels of "emotional" "upset" or "unhinged" damage credibility. We will study examples of power plays and their subsequent results; sometimes the labels had sticking power, for others they quickly melted away - what made the difference?

Finally, the leaders will discuss which short-term consequences to prepare for - is backlash and reaction a sign you're doing something right? Should you dignify ridicule with a response, or hold your head up with a silent smile? Set up a scoring system where small losses, in addition to tiny victories, build an overall win.