I've been very grumpy lately and what with the economy and all, it didn't seem fair to subject you to my grumpiness. Now that the market is up to almost 7500, I figure you can handle it. Why am I so grumpy? Well for starters:

While I'm delighted that the "Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Act" has been reintroduced to this Congress, I am totally depressed that the major strategy they are to do to make this happen is going to be WORKSHOPS; yes WORKSHOPS!!. One shot workshops DON"T work. We've known this for years and while I'm delighted that the Act has criteria on which workshops will be evaluated; workshops alone DON'T WORK.

But that doesn't slow us down. You know when I used to do a lot of gender equity in STEM workshops, people would ask me my rate. I would say I had two rates- a low rate if the workshop were tied into a program of change or a greed rate if there were no comprehensive plan for change. And yup, there would be a pause and then they would say "What's your greed rate?" Why would someone go through all the fuss and bother of having a long term plan if all you have to do is have a workshop?

Do you think we could get Congress to talk to some AGEP and ADVANCE people so they could learn a little about what it takes to increase diversity in STEM.

One other thing, if I see one more article about why there aren't more women in science that concludes "it's the children" I am going to run amuck. This one says "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..."

Say what? Good to know that it's only the math intensive fields; so friends if you want a science career and a family go to the life sciences or the earth sciences or the agricultural sciences because it's just the math that makes science careers incompatible with family life, Who knew?