Leadership magazine Nov/Dec 2015 V45 No 2 | Page 23

local business community. Invite them to
the table and start a conversation about
what they need and desire in their workforce. Build a partnership that is mutually
beneficial, not based on donating money,
but building experiences for students to
truly make them college and career ready.
n

Resources
•  California CTE Model Curriculum
Standa rds, w w w.cde.ca.gov/ci /ct /sf/
ctemcstandards.asp.
•  Ca l ifornia Standa rds for Ca reer
Ready Practice, www.cde.ca.gov/ci/ct/
sf/documents/ctescrpf lyer.pdf.
•  Managing the Talent Pipeline, U.S.
Chamber of Commerce Foundation publication, w w w.uschamberfoundation.
org/managing-talent-pipeline-0.
•  Jobs skills gap: The basics become a problem, CNBC online report, w w w.cnbc.
com/id/101012437.
•  Davies, A., Fidler, D., & Gorbis, M.
(2011) Future Work Skills 2020, Institute
for the Future, Palo Alto, Calif., for Universit y of Phoenix Research Institute,
www.iftf.org/futureworkskills.

The road to gender
equality: Are we there yet?
Across our country, government agencies and nonprofit groups are
advocating for girls to have a greater interest in STEM and STEMrelated fields. Research shows that girls struggle in STEM subjects
more than boys at multiple levels of their education, and the shortage
of girls entering STEM-related fields is indisputable. According to the
U.S. Department of Education’s recent publication, “Gender Differences
in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
Interest, Credits Earned, and NAEP Performance in the 12th Grade,”
males outnumbered females in the area of STEM interests, and they
outperformed females on NAEP assessments in science and math.
According to The College Board’s Program Summary Report (2014), 80
percent of high school students who took the AP Computer Science test
were male, while only 20 percent were female. At the college level, only 15
percent of bachelor degrees awarded in engineering went to females in
1990. Two decades later, in 2010, the number changed by only 3 percent,
with females earning 18 percent of bachelor degrees in engineering and
males receiving 82 percent.

Craig Wheaton is superintendent of
Visalia Unified School District, where
William J. Davis is director of Career
Technical Education.

The infamous backseat question “Are we there yet?” exists, and the
answer is clear. No, we are not there yet. America is not at a place where
STEM interests and STEM fields are met with an equal number of boys
and girls. As educational leaders, we must not only be very aware of the
problem girls face, but also be very open to alternative pathways for them.
We must continue to open our minds to understanding that the destination
– gender equity – might be miles and miles away, and the rest stops along
the way may be frequent, but eventually we will get there.
– Tricia Hyun, teacher, Fullerton School District
November
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December 2015
2015

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