Women in STEM Fields

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) is an organization,

which aims to improve the lives of millions of women and their families. The AAUW
was founded in 1881 with the purpose of empowering women as individuals. Since its
establishment, the AAUW has accomplished many things including: awarding $4.3
million in fellowships and grants in the year 2012 and 1200 congressional office visits
to protect college access and affordability. The AAUW aims to address the problem
involving the lack of women in STEM fields. The AAUW encourages involvement in its
organization as it is leveling the playing field for girls and women in science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics.
As an organization that strives to give women representation in STEM fields, the
AAUW mission is too [Advance] equity for women and girls through advocacy,
education, philanthropy, and research.
The AAUW is a global community that encourages and empowers women
worldwide to pursue a career in the STEM field, regardless of where they come from.
The problem that the AAUW wishes to address is the lack of women in STEM
fields and it strives to do this by providing programs such as research, campus leadership,
and public policy amongst others.
The lack of women in STEM fields is a largely widespread problem that can be
found/encountered worldwide. Some of the consequences that arise from this problem are
the wage gap that can be found when women take on a field per say nursing. STEM field
careers have some of the most well paid jobs and women arent pursuing these careers

because they are being discouraged to take on these jobs because they are seen as jobs
that should be occupied by men.
Some of the history behind the problem can be found engraved in society and in
the imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy, which has put male privilege at the
forefront. The AAUW history comes since its first meeting in 1881 with the purpose of
empowering women to take positions on the fundamental issues of the day
educational, social, economic, and political.
I chose this organization because it appealed to me and I found it interesting that
this organizations purpose is to encourage women to pursue a STEM field, since most of
society does not see women as belonging in those fields. Being a male, I have always
wondered why there was not many women in STEM fields and I just found it interesting
that the AAUW is trying to bring in more women into STEM fields after for so long they
have been discouraged to pursue such field and pursue a much more feminine field
instead.
Some ways in which people can get involved is by becoming a member of the
AAUW, taking action online, sharing issues on social media, joining a student
organization, and hosting an event, just to mention a few.
The AAUW does not have a local chapter but it does have branches that can be
found all around the University of Houston. Although, the University of Houston does
not have a local AAUW chapter there is the Society of Women Engineers on campus,
which is similar to the AAUW. The AAUW does have an online website and it does have
fundraisers.

The AAUW is an organization that has come a long way and it has empowered
many women to pursue a career in STEM fields. It has over 170,000 members and it
continues to grow, all with the intention to encourage women to pursue these fields.

Sources
"AAUW: Empowering Women Since 1881." AAUW: Empowering Women Since 1881.
N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2015. <http://www.aauw.org/>.

"OUR HISTORY." OUR HISTORY. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.

<http://history.aauw.org/>.