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August 2016 NEWS AND OPINION The Stentorian I NCSSM Why We Still Need to Promote Girls and Women in STEM By MARGAUX WINTER ““““ As more college stu dents graduate with degrees in STEM, the percentage of women with these degrees is climbing as well. According to ngcproject.org, in 2013, 50.3% of the degrees in science and engineering were awarded to women. Why, then, are we still pushing for women and girls to become more interested in STEM? Despite these seemingly optimistic statistics, there is a great disparity between the numbers of college-educated women in STEM and the num bers of women actually par ticipating in the science and engineering workforce. Un fortunately, women only make up 29% of the science and en gineering workforce, and even smaller numbers when you look at specific fields. For ex ample, while 35.2% of chem ists are women, only 10.7% are electrical or computer hard ware engineers, and 11.1% are physicists and astronomers. So what is the reason be hind these dropping numbers? Do superiors pressure women not to follow their chosen ca reers? Do many women choose to start a family instead of us ing their de^ees? These are questions that many female scientists and engineers are still grappling with, and often there are no clear answers. One of the many hypoth eses on this issue is the lack of female role models in STEM. Women may push through a STKM LIKK A (JIHL Tasneem Essader (far right) joins other students in encouraging women to pursue careers in STEM through the NCSSM initiative STEM Like a Girl. higher degree with a strong in terest in the subject they study, but once they begin looking for a job they become discour aged. Of course, this path cre ates a negaitive cycle, wherein women are discouraged from working in STEM, and as a re sult they do not create a more positive environment for the next generation. Other studies find that sex ual harassment is' a reason that women leave STEM. Hope Jahren, a geochemist and geo biologist, recently wrote an article in the New York Times about this phenomenon. She said, “Since I started writing about women and science, my female colleagues have been moved to share their stories with me; my inbox is an inad vertent clearinghouse for unso- lieited love notes.” The notes she shares comment on women in inappropriate and overtly sexual manners, yet at the same time, they acknowledge the problems with their com ments, going so far as to say, “Of course you know I could get fired for this.” One question that pops up is why women aren’t reporting this harassment. One reason is the risk of losing their jobs, if they aren’t prompted to leave first. Oftentimes, harassment comes from superiors, which can put women in a battle of his word against mine, or even in the form of filing complaints that simply aren’t believed. Despite these seemingly staggering odds, many women are still in the STEM work place. These are women who either persevered through bad situations, or who were lucky enough to work in a place with a lack of negative stigma against women. So, let’s start early when combating stereotypes and stigma. The only way to up root problems with the sys tem is to start with the women in the workforce now, and to start early with the next gen eration. Most of the students at NCSSM will pursue science or engineering as a career, but we need to think beyond the people we know. Encourage ment and comradeship go a long way. When examining these problems, we often forget to look outside the United States, but the advancement of women and girls in STEM is an inter national issue. In the US, many organizations and efforts have been worked to increase girls’ interest in STEM. These efforts are working, and many science fields are opening up their doors to create more diverse and well-educated workforces. But in many other countries, this is not the case. Gender ste reotypes and power dynamics still infest these fields. Ziha Virus Continues to Loom Large By SAMANTHA GONSKI Discovered only 69 years ago, the Zika virus has gained presence over time. Zika was first observed in the Zika Forest in Uganda, where a Rhesus monkey contracted a febrile, or fever-like, illness. The virus belongs to the same family as the West Nile virus and yellow fever, both of which are a bit more understood. Although Zika made its first appearance in 1947, it was not until seven years later that it was contracted by a human. The first human case was detected in Nigeria; Zika then spread to other parts of Africa and to Asia as an epidemic illness. In 2007, another epidemic of Zika wiped through Yap Island, in the Pacific Ocean, and in 2013, it infected 11 percent of the population of French Polynesia. Only a year ago did Zika hit Brazil; it may have been brought there by the 2014 World Cup. A virus with no cure and no vaccination is now running through the city where the 2016 Aedes species mosquitos, like the one pictured above, spread Zika when infected. WEHMl) Olympic Games are taking place. Zika has mild effects; some of those who are infected do not even present symptoms. But, if a pregnant woman is infected, the virus can cause her child to have serious birth defects. Zika can be spread by Aedes species mosquito bites, from a pregnant mother to her fetus, or through sexual intercourse; it is likely that the virus can also be spread through blood transfusions. Symptoms include fevers, rashes, joint pain, conjunctivitis, muscle pain, and headaches. Those infected present symptoms for several days to a week but do not typically require hospitalization. Fetuses that contraet the virus may experience microcephaly and other serious birth defects, such as seeing, hearing, and growth deficits. Microcephaly is when a child’s head is abnormally small due to improper brain development. This can lead to serious problems: poor speech, poor motor functions, dwarfism and seizures. The national Centers for Disease Control highly encourages everyone to take preventative actions against the virus: wear long sleeves and pants and use bug nets and mosquito repellent. As of July 27, 2016, the CDC reported 1,658 cases of the virus in the United States. However, none of these were spread through local mosquito bites until July 29, 2016, when the state of Florida reported four new cases. In Miami, the four cases of Zika Virus were determined to be caused by local mosquito bite transmission. The CDC is working closely with the state in an ongoing investigation, and to date has given Florida eight million dollars specifically for Zika funds. There are no plans to limit travel to the area.
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