Happy 19th birthday, Malala!
Thank you for your courageous work to empower women and girls. You inspire us every day!
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Still getting goosebumps from the powerful #NCCWSL16 speech by Kimberly Bryant, electrical engineer, technologist, and founder of Black Girls Code.
5 Historically Badass Women We Salute This Memorial Day
Happy Memorial Day!
Run like a Girl: Women Presidential Candidates throughout History
It’s no secret that in the United States, women face barriers to leadership — especially in the political realm. Women represent only 19 percent of Congress, 24 percent of state legislatures, and 12 percent of governors (and I’m sure you know that we have never had a woman president — of the country, at least.)
But that doesn’t mean women haven’t tried. Women have been running for president of the United States since 1872 — before women even had the right to vote. And this year, two high-profile women entered the race. Here are some of the women who have tried to crack the ultimate glass ceiling.
1. Victoria Woodhull
In 1872, Victoria Woodhull became the first woman to run for president. She ran with the Equal Rights Party, and her running mate was Frederick Douglass. A controversial figure at the time, she supported issues we take for granted today like an eight-hour workday and many social welfare programs.
2. Gracie Allen
Remember back in 2007 when Stephen Colbert filed to run for president in his home state of South Carolina? It turns out he was not the first comedian to come up with that idea. In 1940, comedian Gracie Allen (of the comedy duo Burns and Allen) ran for president on the “Surprise Party” ticket as a publicity stunt. She used her zany style of humor to make fun of the political process.
Gracie Allen: George, I’ll let you in on a secret. I’m running for president.
George Burns: You’re running for president? Gracie, how long has this been going on?
Allen: For 150 years. George Washington started it.
Burns: But in the entire history of the United States, there’s never been a woman president.
Allen: Yeah isn’t that exciting? I’ll be the first one.
In a time of depression and looming war, Allen provided levity and received several thousand write-in votes.
3. Margaret Chase Smith
In 1964, Margaret Chase Smith became the first woman presidential candidate for a major party. As the first woman elected to both the House and the Senate, she said that she received many letters encouraging her to run. However, she was not encouraged by the party establishment. At her campaign announcement in front of the National Women’s Press Club, you can hear the audience laugh as she describes one of the reasons she was told not to run: “It is contended that as a woman, I would not have the physical stamina and strength to run. And that I should not take that much out of me for what might even conceivably be a good cause, even if a losing cause.”
Like this post? Stay tuned for more! We’re featuring a story about women running for president in the upcoming Spring 2016 issue of Outlook magazine.
4. Shirley Chisholm
“Unbought and Unbossed” was the slogan for Shirley Chisholm’s run for the presidency in 1972. Black women have long been an integral yet unsung part of the political process. Chisholm was a pioneer as the first African American woman elected to Congress and the first woman of color and first major-party black candidate to run for president.
5. Carol Moseley Braun
Following in Chisholm’s footsteps, in 2000 Braun became the first African American woman U.S. senator to run for president. Braun’s candidacy was often questioned, but she always responded that her record was as strong as those of her fellow candidates.
By running for the highest office in the country, these women have set the stage for many more women to follow. At AAUW, we are encouraging the next generation of Victorias, Gracies, Margarets, Shirleys, and Carols to step up and lead.
5 Black Women Founders and Inventors You Should Know
African American women have founded various organizations, they’ve been the masterminds behind innovative products, and they’ve paved the way for new generations’ thought leaders. These champions of change have solved medical mysteries, fought poverty, served on congressional committees, and have helped lead the movements against racism, sexism, and class barriers.
I credit many of my family members for bringing such #BlackGirlMagic to my own awareness. My grandmother chartered an NAACP chapter in Fort Madison, Iowa; my mother works to eradicate domestic violence; and my aunts have broken barriers in the fields of engineering and mental health. I’d like to shed light on the accomplishments of five other trailblazing black women founders and inventors who saw needs and chose to find solutions.
1. Patricia Bath, ophthalmologist and laser scientist (b. 1942)
Bath was an advocate for preventing and treating blindness. Not only was she the first African American to complete a medical residency in ophthalmology, but she also co-founded the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness and established a new discipline known as community ophthalmology. Bath also became the first black woman doctor to receive a medical patent when she created the Laserphaco Probe, a new device for cataract surgery. As a young girl growing up in Harlem, New York, Bath noticed that surgery, and medicine in general, was a male-dominated profession. After receiving her medical degree from Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C., Bath joined the University of California, Los Angeles, as the first woman faculty member in the department of ophthalmology.
2. Anna Arnold Hedgeman, co-founder of the National Organization for Women (1899–1990)
Arnold Hedgeman was an author, politician, and educator who fought to end segregation among teachers of color. She was the first black woman to hold a mayoral cabinet position in New York. As one of the founders of the National Organization for Women, she was an advocate for education, feminism, and poverty issues. Hedgeman was also the first African American to hold a Federal Security Agency position in her role as executive director of the National Council for a Permanent Fair Employment Practice Commission. Instrumental in organizing the March on Washington in 1963, it was Hedgeman who pushed for female speakers to be part of the event that initially lacked the recognition of women civil rights heroes.
3. Miriam E. Benjamin, inventor of the Gong and Signal Chair (1861–1947)
In 1888, Miriam E. Benjamin became the second black woman to receive a patent. Her invention, the Gong and Signal Chair, revolutionized customer service practices. The chair included a small button that relayed a signal to an attendant when pressed. This invention would later be used in steamboats, restaurants, and even the U.S. House of Representatives. Today, Benjamin’s creation is used to signal flight attendants on planes.
4. Maggie Lena Walker, founder of St. Luke Penny Savings Bank (1864–1934)
Maggie Lena Walker founded the highly successful St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, an accomplishment for which she’s recognized as being the first African American woman to charter a bank in the United States. Under Walker’s leadership, the bank served a membership of more than 50,000 in 1,500 local branches. From 1903 to 1929, the bank issued more than 600 mortgages to black families, allowing many to realize the dream of home ownership. Walker also served as grand secretary of the Independent Order of St. Luke, an umbrella organization dedicated to the social and financial advancement of African Americans, and she actively campaigned for women’s rights and desegregation.
5. Marva Collins, founder of Westside Preparatory School (1936–2015)
Marva Collins, recipient of AAUW’s 1989 Achievement Award, was one of the most influential education activists of the 20th century. In 1975, Collins founded the Westside Preparatory School in the impoverished community of Garfield Park in Chicago, Illinois. Collins was well known for providing education to low-income African American children who she felt the Chicago public school system had wrongly labeled as “learning disabled.” Through her teaching methods, which focused on phonics, reading, math, and English, Collins tackled behavioral issues and is credited for her techniques of classroom management. At one point, President Ronald Reagan even nominated her to become secretary of education.
We salute these women of change who saw needs, found solutions, and created opportunities for those around them. They remind us all why it’s important to continue to equip today’s young women with the tools they need to become the next generation of leaders and innovators.
This post was written by Media Relations and Social Media Intern Khallilah Beecham-Watkins.
5 Badass Women Who Ran for President
On the last day of Women’s History Month, here are some women who should be taught in every history class!
How Women and Girls Are Marching Toward Equity in Sports
Tthe United States has a long way to go in order to achieve gender equity in sports. Girls have 1.3 million fewer opportunities to play high school sports than boys have and are offered only 43 percent of the opportunities to play sports in college. Despite the passage of Title IX, many girls and young women lack access to safe practice conditions, appropriate equipment, reliable transportation to and from games, and the funds needed to participate in organized athletics. These setbacks cause girls to drop out of sports at twice the rate that boys do.
Though there’s still much more work to be done, it’s important to celebrate the recent progress that has been made in women’s sports. Here are a few of the most notable recent wins for women athletes.
U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Dominates
Wins: In 2015 the U.S. women’s national soccer team became national heroes after their show-stopping performance in the Women’s FIFA World Cup broke television ratings records. Team members were featured in advertisements and Alex Morgan became the first woman on the cover of EA Sports’ FIFA video game. Even President Barack Obama commented on how “badass” this team is.
Losses: Despite the team’s accomplishments and the overall increase in popularity of women’s soccer, the general media coverage of women’s sports remains depressing. In 2014, ESPN’s SportsCenter dedicated just 2 percent of its airtime to women’s sports. Additionally, compared to their male counterparts, women soccer players are paid significantly less and exposed to poor practice conditions. Abby Wambach, the team’s former captain, was paid far less in her career than her male peers were, despite having scored more goals than any man or woman in professional soccer history.
Serena Williams Continues to Crush It
Wins: Williams was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year in 2015, making her the first woman in more than three decades to nab the title as well as the first solo woman of color to ever hold the honor. As the number one women’s tennis player in the world, Williams earns more than $13 million in endorsements and is a trailblazer for women athletes all over the world. She continues to empower girls and women, especially women of color, every step of the way.
Losses: Even with her many achievements, Williams often receives harsh media criticism about her body image and physique. Williams is also subjected to limitations on her ability to obtain endorsements and is paid less than professional male tennis players. Her endorsements fade in comparison to male tennis stars like Rafael Nadal, who made $28 million over the last year, and Roger Federer, who was paid $58 million in endorsements.
Women Coaches Gain Visibility
Wins: It’s no secret that there is a lack of women’s representation and visibility in major sports, but a few coaches are challenging the traditional notion of what it takes to be a leader and coach in men’s professional leagues. Across the country, women are getting hired to coach men’s professional sports teams. Last year, Jen Welter became the first female assistant coaching intern in the NFL and Kathryn Smith was hired as the league’s first full-time woman coach.
Losses: Even with the progress that has been made in hiring women coaches, professional leagues have a long way to go to reach gender equity. Women lack serious leadership roles in professional sports leagues across the board and remain vastly underrepresented on the coaching staff of both men’s and women’s professional teams.
Women’s Hockey League Is Finally a Thing
Wins: In case you missed it: There is now a professional women’s hockey league in the United States. That’s right; for the first time ever, professional women’s hockey players will be paid for their talents on the ice. This is big!
Losses: As in other women’s sports, reaching equality in athletics doesn’t just stop with the creation of a league. Women hockey players face one of the most dramatic pay disparities in professional sports, with the typical player being paid a meager average annual salary of just $15,000. Hilary Knight, one of the most talented and experienced players in the National Women’s Hockey League, will be paid only $22,000 this season. This salary is just a quarter of 1 percent of what Patrice Bergeron, the highest-paid player on the Boston Bruins, will make this year. Ouch.
The recent achievements of women in sports show that women athletes are no longer sitting on the sidelines. But even my beloved March Madness has a long way to go to reach equity for women’s athletics. AAUW found a significant pay gap between coaches of men’s and women’s basketball teams, and a gender pay gap among graduates from nearly all the schools competing.
Title IX is best known for helping to ensure gender equity in athletics, but the law goes deeper than sports, preventing sexual discrimination in all areas of education. Title IX requires that every school designate at least one employee to coordinate the school’s compliance; however, many coordinators don’t have the resources to do their job effectively. In some cases, many don’t know they’ve been assigned the role. Help AAUW enforce this critical law by pledging to deliver resources from the U.S. Department of Education to your school’s Title IX coordinator.
This blog was written by AAUW Senior Program Association of Campus Leadership Programs Paige Robnett.
Source: bit.ly
Thirty years ago today, we lost the seven brave men and women of the Space Shuttle Challenger. The team included Judith Resnik, an AAUW member and fellow. Resnik, who received funding from AAUW to study electrical engineering, was the first Jewish women and the second woman ever to go into space
We’re forever grateful for her and her team’s contributions to science <3.
The Challenges of Being in Academia from a Black Feminist, and How She Has Addressed Them
Navigating academia as a woman of color researching black feminism — a widely misunderstood topic — has not been without its challenges for
Sherie Randolph, an associate professor at the University of Michigan.
Randolph, who researched black feminism, shares how she has found ways to succeed as a woman of color and feminist in academia.
1. Don’t rely solely on publications; build personal relationships, too.
For many people of color in academia who have decided to focus on controversial or less popular areas of study, the old adage “publish or perish” is not always a sufficient guide. In Randolph’s opinion, it is also important to establish and maintain a wide circle of relationships in your department. This allows colleagues to better understand and appreciate your work.
In Randolph’s experience, this is especially important because “sometimes even when you publish in the established journals and with the presses that the mainstream academy approves of, your work on feminism, queer theory, [or similar subjects] is often not fully understood or prized by your colleagues.” This misunderstanding can impact how your research is received, what you are paid, and how your courses are valued.
2. Create and find accepting spaces.
Finding an accepting space where you can build relationships, get advice, and share experiences can be crucial to personal and professional growth. One such space that Randolph found and has utilized over the years is the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity. She says that the organization is a great place for any woman of color to start their search. “They have a great team that helps you continue to write and research when you are often one of the only persons of color in your department or field, or when your research is not fully understood and appreciated by your department or university.”
3. Find supporters!
Randolph notes that having genuine supporters of your work is invaluable. She proactively garnered support for her work from other colleagues at her university, including AAUW alumna Tiya Miles. These supporters “read my work, advocate for me, and encourage me to have a balanced life both inside and outside of the field.”
The support that may have started it all, Randolph says, came in the form of an AAUW American Fellowship. “Without AAUW’s support I would not have finished [my] dissertation on time” or crafted a strong enough study to enter the job market competitively. “It was a great honor to receive the AAUW fellowship,” she goes on. “It gave me a win at a time when I needed to feel that other scholars appreciated and understood my work and that I was not alone in valuing black feminism as a field of study.”
Read the full blog post.
Happy Birthday, Grace Hopper! Thanks for inspiring generations of women and girls to explore STEM.
It’s hard to summarize her life succinctly, but here goes. Hopper was born December 9, 1906, in New York City. Fascinated by mathematics at an early age, she graduated from Vassar College in 1928, and by 1934 had received master’s and doctoral degrees in the subject from Yale University.
Hopper began teaching mathematics at her alma mater Vassar, but that course was soon forever altered. She’s best known for inventing the first compiler, a technical component that translated human language into a language understood by the computer.
In honor of #WomensEqualityDay, here are seven amazing women of color who have helped fight for — and win — greater equality for women.
Today commemorates a historic step for women’s equality: the passage of the 19th Amendment, which secured women’s right to vote, on August 26, 1920.
Yet long after the passage of the 19th Amendment, racial discrimination continued to keep women of color from voting. Even today we continue to see passage of a variety of laws that threaten to prevent women, especially women of color, from voting.
Of course women of color haven’t remained silent in the face of these setbacks. Although they have often been the leading voices and innovators in the fight for equality, history has a tendency to erase their legacy and voices.
If these seven women teach us anything, it’s that passion and dedication pay off. We’re encouraged to continue their work; learn how you can join us in continuing the fight toward women’s equality.
Read the full blog post to learn more about these 7 inspiring women.
Drake and Peggy Olson, together at last
Now, thanks to the internet, you can watch Drake’s admittedly amazing hustle anthem being put to the most perfect use imaginable, as a soundtrack to Olson’s rise to the top. Bravo, internet.
So, this is the best. Get it, Peggy! Ultimate shero.
Becky Hammon is cracking the NBA's glass ceiling as the first woman to coach an NBA team.
Becky Hammon, the first female head coach in NBA Summer League history, just led her team to championship victory!
Hashtag #winning can’t even begin to describe the awesomeness that is Becky Hammon.
vox:
Happy moon landing day! July 20, 2015 marks the 46th anniversary of Apollo 11’s arrival on the moon. The software for the guidance computer was written by a team at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory (now the Draper Laboratory), headed up by Margaret Hamilton.
Hamilton’s code was good — so good, in fact, that it very well might have saved the entire Apollo 11 mission. The rendezvous radar (the radar system to be used when leaving the moon and reconnecting with the control module) and the computer-aided guidance system in the lunar module used incompatible power supplies. The radar, which didn’t really have a purpose in the landing portion of the mission, started sending the computer lots and lots of data based on random electrical noise. This overloaded the computer and threatened to leave no room for the computational tasks necessary for landing.
And that’s what would have happened if Hamilton hadn’t been a baller. Being a baller, she anticipated this kind of problem and made the Apollo operating system robust against it.