{"306081":{"#nid":"306081","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Why STEM Students Need Gender Studies","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/faculty-and-staff\/faculty\/bio\/colatrella\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECarol Colatrella\u003C\/a\u003E, professor in the \u003Cstrong\u003ESchool of Literature, Media, and Communication \u003C\/strong\u003Emakes a case for supporting gender studies programs in a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.aaup.org\/article\/why-stem-students-need-gender-studies#.U4dkKyiwd8H\u0022\u003Erecent publication\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecent university budget reductions and debates about improving efficiencies in higher education have encouraged speculation about the relative values of different disciplines. Critics argue that the humanities and social sciences are less valuable than science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields because they do not generate the same levels of external research funding, donations, and municipal investment. Those who attempt to assign value to particular fields weigh initial salaries for graduates, the availability of jobs, and the need for employees with scientific and technical knowledge and skills, deeming fields without clearly defined career paths less worthy of public support.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe headline of a January 29, 2013, article in the \u003Cem\u003EChronicle of Higher Education\u003C\/em\u003E, \u201cN.C. Governor Wants to Tie University Support to Jobs, Not Liberal Arts,\u201d illuminates the tension between employment goals and the liberal arts in public discourse about higher education. I was more immediately troubled, however, by Governor Pat McCrory\u2019s assertion, in a radio conversation with former US secretary of education William J. Bennett, that gender studies courses \u201chave no chance of getting people jobs.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs someone who has helped to build a gender studies program, I would offer a counterargument. Gender studies as a field illustrates the potential of interdisciplinary scholarship in today\u2019s scientific and technical university: it can increase the representation of women and minorities in STEM fields and help prepare them to participate in those fields.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPoliticians and the public should value the contributions of those who teach and carry out research in the interdisciplinary field of gender studies. The outcomes of effective gender studies programs and associated initiatives include increasing knowledge about social organization and cultural values; creating networks affiliating faculty, students, staff, and alumni; and enhancing campus community. The long-standing efforts to increase the numbers of women and historically underrepresented minorities in STEM fields at the \u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E, where I teach, have gained traction from the success of academic and social initiatives connecting gender studies theory and practice in the liberal arts with other academic disciplines.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInfusing the concerns of gender studies in STEM fields can boost placement rates for women in high-salary science and technology jobs and lead to improved work-life balance across fields. My experiences at Georgia Tech demonstrate that gender studies scholarship and related activities are valuable in many ways.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.aaup.org\/article\/why-stem-students-need-gender-studies#.U4dkKyiwd8H\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EContinue Reading\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/faculty-and-staff\/faculty\/bio\/colatrella\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECarol Colatrella\u003C\/a\u003E, professor in the \u003Cstrong\u003ESchool of Literature, Media, and Communication \u003C\/strong\u003Emakes a case for supporting gender studies programs in a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.aaup.org\/article\/why-stem-students-need-gender-studies#.U4dkKyiwd8H\u0022\u003Erecent publication\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Carol Colatrella, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication makes a case for supporting gender studies programs in a recent publication."}],"uid":"27889","created_gmt":"2014-06-30 13:38:38","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:41","author":"Beth Godfrey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-06-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-06-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"298941":{"id":"298941","type":"image","title":"Carol Colatrella","body":null,"created":"1449244552","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:55:52","changed":"1475895000","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:00","alt":"Carol Colatrella","file":{"fid":"199482","name":"img_45.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_45_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_45_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2977,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/img_45_0.jpg?itok=PdPB-Zj6"}}},"media_ids":["298941"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"3975","name":"carol colatrella"},{"id":"713","name":"Gender"},{"id":"96531","name":"gender studies"},{"id":"167258","name":"STEM"},{"id":"3672","name":"WST"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}