Meet five Southern Illinois women in science

Photo Credit: GrrlScientist / Flickr Creative Commons

The sciences have been a male-dominated field and there are many different reasons that are offered to explain why.

There are many women, including those featured here, who have found success in scientific fields despite the challenges. The women in these photographs are a small representation (or sample size, in scientific jargon) of women working in science in Southern Illinois, but they are positive examples of the opportunities that the sciences present.

Each of the featured scientists came to science in a different way and for a different reason. Some were influenced early on by teachers or guidance counselors, such as Dawn Grisley, who credits her high school science teacher, Pete Moake, who taught at Johnston City High School. She says Moake “let me dissect anything.” Grisley also had a mentor in her colleague Maureen Doran who recruited her to work in histology — the study of animal and plant tissues — at Saffron Scientific Histology Services. Read more.

How Hiring Women Other Businesses Won't Has Made 'All The Difference'

Robert Frost suggested that taking the road less traveled made all the difference. The Women's Bean Project, a nonprofit in Denver, Colorado, employs only women generally considered unemployable. For nearly 30 years, the social enterprise has worked to help women learn to work by giving them jobs; that is how they make a difference.

The "Bean," as insiders know it, was recently selected by REDF, a national organization that supports social enterprises like the Bean, that "provide jobs, support, and training to people who would otherwise have a tough time getting into the workforce," for a growth investment, according to Carla Javits, President and CEO of REDF.

The Bean, according to CEO Tamra Ryan, generates $2.2 million in revenue and employs 75 women. The business generates a modest gross margin on sales of gourmet dried food products of just 8 percent. The organization's other costs are funded by grants and donations. Read the story in Forbes.

The futures industry's surprisingly good record of promoting women

Kim Taylor is one of the highest-ranking women in Chicago finance, a realm so monopolized by men that a female face in the C-suite still stands out. When she fields what she calls the ultimate chick question—”How did you succeed in a male-dominated industry?”—the CME Group president points to the women who came before her. Catherine Munn headed the Chicago Mercantile Exchange's clearing operation in the mid-1980s, and Kate Meyer, a former trader, became the first president of the clearing house in the mid-1990s. 

At a time when many corners of finance have been criticized for lack of progress in recruiting and promoting women, the futures industry has been a surprising bright spot. Today, six of CME's 16senior leaders are women—a bigger share than the quarter at most Fortune 500 companies. The goal, says CME CEO Phupinder Gill, is to hire “a diverse group of people to serve our diverse group of customers.” Read the story in Crains.

VA aggressively implementing measures to prevent suicide among women Veterans

When I came home from Iraq in 2004, I struggled to control intrusive memories about awful things I’d seen in the war — and the intense emotions those memories triggered. At the same time, I felt overwhelmed by the pressure of trying to help my then-boyfriend recover from the traumatic brain injury he sustained during the deployment. One night, it seemed as if the only thing I would be able to control was how my life ended, and I sat staring a gun for what felt like an eternity. Luckily, I got help, and today I’m thriving.

The recent VA report on suicide shows that my experience with these challenges was not unique. In 2014, after adjusting for differences in age, the risk for suicide was 2.4 times higher among women Veterans when compared with their civilian counterparts. That year, the rate of suicide among civilian adult women was 7.2 per 100,000; their age-adjusted rate of suicide had increased by 39.7 percent since 2001. Meanwhile, the rate of suicide among women Veterans was 18.9 per 100,000, and our age-adjusted rate of suicide increased by 85.2 percent over the same time period. Read the rest of the story.

Female Staffers Came Up With a Genius Strategy to Make Sure Their Voices Were Heard

When President Obama first took office, the White House wasn’t exactly the friendliest place for female staffers. Most of Obama’s senior staffers — such as former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and former economic adviser Lawrence Summers — were men who’d worked on his campaign and subsequently filled his cabinet.

“If you didn’t come in from the campaign, it was a tough circle to break into,” Anita Dunn, who served as White House communications director until November 2009, told the Washington Post. “Given the makeup of the campaign, there were just more men than women.”

Susan Rice, who’s currently the national security adviser, said she (and other women) had to shoulder their way into important conversations: “It’s not pleasant to have to appeal to a man to say, ‘Include me in that meeting.’”

And even when they’d made it into the room, female staffers were sometimes overlooked. So they banded together (shine theory!) and came up with a system to make sure they were heard...Read the story in New York Magazine.

A New Project Tells the Stories of the Women of Route 66

Perhaps no single road is more significant to modern American folklore than the fabled Route 66. Once stretching almost all the way across the country, the highway that John Steinbeck called “the Mother Road” has been memorialized in songs and stories over the decades. But while many of these stories center on the experience of the travelers and road trippers who rode down the highway, Route 66 was central to the lives of many people along its path. Now, an oral history project sponsored by the National Park Service is seeking to tell the stories of the women who lived and worked along the famous highway.

Titled “The Women on the Mother Road,” the project is supported by the National Park Service and Cinefemme, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting women filmmakers and documentarians. Founded by filmmaker Katrina Parks, the oral history project seeks to gather the stories of the females who lived and worked along Route 66, just like the many male travelers whose stories have dominated the narratives set along the highway. Read more by the Smithsonian.

Read about the Illinois women of Route 66:
Hazel Funk
Loretta Marten
Sally Rand
Heleen & Kathryn Thanas

Half of NASA's Newest Astronaut Class Are Women

Photo credit: NASA

In January 1978, NASA announced that it had offically hired its very first female astronauts. Now, almost 40 years later, NASA’s latest batch of future astronauts is half women, and in a few years they could be among the first people to set foot on Mars.

Getting accepted into NASA’s astronaut training program is no small feat. NASA only accepts new astronaut trainees every four or five years after putting candidates through a year-and-a-half-long application process, including intensive physical and psychological tests, Fiona MacDonald writes for ScienceAlert. Out of around 6,100 applicants for the 2013 class, NASA only selected eight to join their astronaut training program—four of whom are women.

"We never determine how many people of each gender we're going to take, but these were the most qualified people of the ones that we interviewed," NASA’s Glenn Research Center deputy director Janet Kavandi said in 2013. Read the story in the Smithsonian.

Women's work? Nonprofit CFO

In 1889 Jane Addams co-founded Hull House In 1931
she became the first American woman to be awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize and is recognized as 
the founder of the social work profession in the U.S.

Looking for a female CFO at a major Chicago organization? Try a nonprofit.  

In Chicago, women in top finance posts at nonprofits are almost as common as male CEOs at for-profit firms. Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Museum of Science and Industry, John G. Shedd Aquarium, Joffrey Ballet, Chicago History Museum and Museum of Contemporary Art are just a few of the major institutions with female chief financial officers. Nationwide, 42 percent of nonprofit CFOs are women, according to GuideStar's 2015 Nonprofit Compensation Report, published in September. Among Fortune 500 companies, it's 13.8 percent. Read the rest of the story by Lisa Bertagnoli in Crain's.

Teens as Young as 13 Rescued From Super Bowl Sex Trafficking

Sixteen teenagers ranging in age from 13 to 17 were recovered by law enforcement in a crackdown on child trafficking surrounding the Super Bowl last weekend. The FBI said the teens included high school students and young people reported missing by their families.

"It is the most significant operation we've had around a big event," Michael Osborne of the FBI's Violent Crimes Against Children Unit told ABC News. "This is the most recoveries we've had at one time."

Officials said the vast majority of the rescued teens were girls.

Osborne said he calls taking the young people off the street "recoveries," because the children are not charged. In child exploitation cases like this, law enforcement officials said operations are designed to remove the young victims from a life of exploitation and abuse. ABCNews has the story.

Are women who play sports more successful?

According to research by Michigan State University’s Institute for the Study of Youth Sports, approximately 70% of children in the U.S. are dropping out of organized sports before the age of 13. This is particularly alarming for women because studies have shown that girls who play sports are more likely to graduate from college, find a job, and be employed in male-dominated industries.

EY research shows that among senior business women in the C-suite today, 94% played sports and over half played at a university level — suggesting a strong correlation between their success in sports and their success in business. In fact, of the 400 women EY surveyed, 75% said that a candidate’s background in sports positively influenced their decision to hire them. These women put a particular premium on female athletes because they know — very personally — how participating in sports can impact work ethic. So to have young women drop out of sport at an early age is not only an alarming statistic, it is a wake-up call for parents. Their girls could prematurely be walking away from something that could have a bigger long-term effect. Read the rest of the commentary on Fortune.com by Beth Brooke-Marciniak, Global Vice Chair of Public Policy at Ernst & Young.

Helping women finish their education. Creating leaders.

The Conference of Women Legislators (COWL) has established a scholarship fund to assist mature women (age 25 and older) who wish to continue their undergraduate education. The goal of the scholarship is to focus on deserving, qualified women whose educations were interrupted due to family concerns and economic problems. Particular consideration will emphasize women who have shown leadership promise through community service.

The one year undergraduate scholarship will cover tuition, books and fees up to $2500 per year, including summer school. Applicants for the scholarship must meet certain requirements to be eligible. In addition to being a woman 25 years of age or older, she must be an Illinois resident and plan to attend an accredited on-campus school in Illinois for at least six semester hours (online college are not eligible).

The scholarship application instructions, application & Waiver of Confidentiality can be downloaded from the COWL website.

Application materials must be postmarked no later than April 15, 2016 to be considered and all applicants will be notified by May 31, 2016. COWL Scholarship Program is for the 2016-2017 Academic Year.

Women left their mark on early Illinois history

Many people recognize the name of Jane Addams from high school history textbooks, but few know much else about this incomparable woman of 19th-century Illinois history. And she was hardly the only one.

Few opportunities awaited Illinois women in that era. In 1900, only 16.3 percent of all Illinois women were employed, with the exception of housekeepers. They were clustered in a handful of occupations, including teaching; 74 percent of all teachers were female.

Still, women made a noticeable impact. Social clubs to promote reading, art and education were common, while the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, headquartered in Evanston, called for limits on alcohol. Monmouth is believed to have been home to the earliest women's political club in the nation. The Illinois Federation of Women’s Clubs, established in 1894, called for free access to reading for all citizens, and created small traveling libraries in storage trunks that were shipped to communities without public library service. Read the entire story on qconline.

Post-blizzard, Sen. Murkowski notes that only women turned up to run the Senate

Something was a little different in the Senate on Tuesday morning. And Sen. Lisa Murkowski noticed it.

The Alaska Republican was one of only a few lawmakers in the Capitol building following the weekend blizzard, and it was her job to handle the formalities of delaying Senate business until her colleagues could get back to work. After finishing a bit of parliamentary business, she described what she saw in the ornate chamber.

“As we convene this morning, you look around the chamber, the presiding officer is female. All of our parliamentarians are female. Our floor managers are female. All of our pages are female.” Read the entire story in the Washington Post.

It’s a first – women elected to Illinois Farm Bureau Board

For the first time, two women have been elected to the Illinois Farm Bureau Board of Directors.
District 1 – which includes Kane, DeKalb, Lake and McHenry counties – will be represented by Michele Aavang of McHenry County.

Meanwhile, District 5 – which includes Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kendall and Will counties – will be represented by Tamara Halterman of rural Mazon.

“I think it’s important for a woman to be on the board because women are just as involved in farming operations as men are,” Halterman said. “It’s time we have a woman on the board.” Read the entire story in the Kane County Chronicle.

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois bringing STEM opportunities to girls

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois robotics program has had great success so far this year.

During recent FIRST LEGO League (FLL) tournaments for 9-14 year olds, four of ten competing teams won awards and one squad qualified for the state tournament. A team of older girls in the FIRST TECH Challenge (FTC) league starts competition in January and has been busy giving demonstrations of their robot design and programming skills – including marching with their scene-stealing “candy cannon” in several holiday parades. GSSI is also gearing up to host a Jr FIRST LEGO League Expo (a science fair style robotics event for students age 6-9) for the southern Illinois region. GSSI’s “robot revolution” is indicative of the Girl Scout movement’s ongoing commitment to bringing girls relevant, exciting opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Read more.

Court to Hear Whether Women Should Register for Draft

Whether Thursday's historic decision to allow women in all combat roles may require them to register for the draft faces its first test next week when a federal lawsuit challenging the male-only registration gets its day in court.

The case, National Coalition for Men vs. the Selective Service System, will be considered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in Pasadena, Calif., on Tuesday.

The court date coincidentally occurs just days after Secretary of Defense Ash Carter opened all military combat roles to women, a decision he said may affect whether women are required to register for the draft.

"It may do that," Carter said. "That is a matter of legal dispute right now, and in fact litigation."But Carter said the outcome of the court case won't affect the Pentagon's decision to move forward. Read the story in its entirety on Military.com.

Big news from the Pentagon: All military jobs will be opened to women who qualify for them

All military jobs will be opened to women who can qualify for them. No quotas. Based purely on the ability to do the job. Here is an expert from a speech by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter on December 3 about women in the U.S. military service:

"This means that as long as they qualify and meet the standards, women will now be able to contribute to our mission in ways they could not before. They’ll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars, and lead infantry soldiers into combat. They’ll be able to serve as Army Rangers and Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Marine Corps infantry, Air Force parajumpers, and everything else that previously was open only to men. And even more importantly, our military will be better able to harness the skills and perspectives that talented women have to offer. 

‘No exceptions’ was the recommendation of the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Air Force, and the Secretary of the Navy, as well as the Chief of Staff of the Army, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the Chief of Naval Operations, and the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command. While the Marine Corps asked for a partial exception in some areas such as infantry, machine gunner, fire support, reconnaissance, and others, we are a joint force, and I have decided to make a decision which applies to the entire force."

Read the speech in its entirety.

The Illinois Fortune 1000 companies with the most and least gender diverse corporate boards

In 2011, women held 14.6 percent of corporate board seats across all Fortune 1000 companies. To improve that figure, two women founders launched 2020 Women on Boards, a national campaign to increase the percentage of board seats held by women to 20% or greater by 2020.

Today, the non-profit released its annual Gender Diversity Index, revealing how far corporations have come to hitting the goal and how much further they have to go. According to the index, women now sit on 18.8 percent of board seats, up from 17.7 percent the previous year.

The rankings categorize every company by four designations - (W)inning, companies that have 20 percent or greater women on their board, (V)ery Close, companies with 11-19 percent, (T)oken, companies with one woman, and (Z)ero, companies with no women on their board. Read the rest of the story on ChicagoInno.

See the complete list of all "Winning" companies.

Four Supreme Court Justices Featured in Grand-Scale Painting at the National Portrait Gallery

The Four Justices by Nelson Shanks;  2012;
Ian and Annette Cumming Collection, on loan
to the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery will display a loaned portrait of the first female Supreme Court Justices, Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, beginning Oct. 28. The 9-foot-6-inch by 7-foot-9-inch oil painting by the artist Nelson Shanks features the four women in an interior based on the Supreme Court Building; it will be displayed in the museum for three years.

This portrait recognizes the achievements of these four women—the first to serve on the nation’s highest court.

“The scale of this painting speaks to the grand accomplishments made by these four women and the example they set for future generations,” said Kim Sajet, director of the museum. “I imagine this portrait will spark a conversation among young people, particularly young women, about breaking barriers.” Read more from the news desk of Smithsonian.

Working moms have more successful daughters and more caring sons, Harvard Business School study says

The guilt many working mothers confess to may be real, but it’s looking less and less warranted.

According to a working paper (pdf) published June 19 by the Harvard Business School, daughters of working mothers are more likely to be employed, hold supervisory positions, and earn more money than the daughters of women who don’t work outside the home. The researchers also found a statistically significant effect on the sons of working women, who are likely to spend more time caring for family members and doing household chores than are the sons of stay-at-home mothers.

Analyzing data from two dozen countries, the researchers concluded that the daughters of employed mothers are 4.5% more likely to be employed themselves than are the daughters of stay-at-home mothers. While this number may seem small, it is statistically significant at the 99% level, meaning there is less than a 1% chance that such a result is due to chance.

Even more surprising, says Kathleen McGinn, a professor at Harvard Business School and the lead author of the study, is the effect that working mothers have on their daughters’ chances of being a supervisor at work. “We did expect that it would effect employment but we didn’t expect that it would effect supervisory responsibility,” she tells Quartz. Read the story on Quartz.