Women and Affirmative Action

Despite the enormous gains made by the civil rights and women's rights movements, women and people of color still face unfair obstacles in business and education.

•  An astonishing 70% of schools are not in compliance with Title IX, the federal equal education opportunity law.
•  For every dollar earned by men, women on a whole earn 74 cents, African American women earn 63 cents and Latina women earn 57 cents.
•  According to the Census Bureau, only 25% of all doctors and lawyers are women.
• Less than 1% of auto mechanics are women.
• Women are only 8.4% of engineers.
• Less than 3% of federal contracts go to women-owned firms. In Washington, less than 10% of state contracts and purchasing dollars go to women-owned firms — even though women own 39% of firms.
•  In Washington, women receive only 12% of doctorates in engineering, and women are substantially under-represented in computer science nationwide.

Sources:

The Shape of the River, Bok, Derek and Bowen, William G., September, 1998
The Federal Glass Ceiling Commission Report, December, 1995
The Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1996
The U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau, September, 1996
The Department of Transportation, 1995
The National Council of Women's Organizations, "Women Speak on Affirmative Action," 1998

http://www.now.org/ (National Organization for women)