http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-848725.mp3
Albany, NY – As part of our celebration of Women's History Month, we wanted to take a look at the current status of women in mathematics. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women who have earned at least an undergraduate degree, comprise nearly 46% of the labor force. Yet, these women make up just 26% of information technology workers, and only 24% in science and math-related occupations. And barely 10% of the engineering workforce are women. Even though these numbers do show improvement in recent years, there are still obvious problems that need fixing. There are many people at many levels in education working on these very problems. We begin by speaking with one of them, Dr. Elizabeth Yanik, Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Emporia State University in Kansas. In addition to teaching, she works extensively with girls and young women to cultivate their interest in math careers. Jim Horne reports.