AAUW of Michigan

Today's the Big Day. If you haven't already voted, be sure to get to the polls before 8:00 p.m. Our foremothers fought hard for the right to vote, so don't let them down. Did you know you can still register to vote on Election Day? According to the Michigan Secretary of State's website: "Eligible voters who are not currently registered to vote in Michigan, or who have not updated their registration with a current Michigan address, have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to visit their local clerk’s office to register to vote or update their registration address. To vote, they may either request an absentee ballot and vote at their clerk's office or go to their polling place to vote if time allows. So long as an eligible, unregistered resident is in line at their clerk’s office by 8 p.m., they may register to vote and cast an absentee ballot." See "Voting at a clerk’s office on Election Day" on this webpage for more info: https://lnkd.in/gfw4M5SF #Election2024 #yourvotematters #yourvoicematters #electionday2024 #voterregistration

"Key findings from a MyBioSource survey earlier this year of 600 women working in STEM indicate that while progress has been made, disparities persist in various aspects of their professional lives." Some big takeaways from the survey: * 1 in 10 women in STEM know they’re paid less than their male counterparts. * Almost half of the respondents reported that they have never been promoted. * 56% said they had been "quietly promoted" last year, meaning they were given an increase in responsibility without a commensurate change in pay or job title. * Women in STEM with female mentors receive more frequent promotions and higher salary increases. * 18% of women in STEM have been told to smile at work. * Remote female STEM workers report fewer gender-based issues than those working in person or hybrid. * Nearly 2 in 3 millennial, Gen X, and baby boomer women working in STEM have seen workplace gender equality improve during their careers. https://lnkd.in/gmf6Kayt #WomenInSTEM #genderbiasinstem #stemgendergap #genderpaygapinstem

Frédérique Campagne Irwin, president and CEO of the National Women's History Museum, summarizes the history of the women's rights movement and the impact of women's advocacy to demand social change. She notes that more women than men have voted in national elections since 1980. Despite advances, achieving gender parity in economic opportunities, education, health and political leadership is expected to take another 95 years. She argues that women shouldn't accept that they have to wait that long for equality. Go out and vote this Tuesday like your future depends on it, because it truly does. Make your voice heard! https://lnkd.in/ev95xyza #Election2024 #WomenVote2024 #YourVoteMatters #genderequality #MakeYourVoiceHeard

The Pew Research Center has released a new report about teen girls' and boys' perceptions of gender discrimination. Data was collected in 2022. "As women have made gains in leadership roles and narrowed the gender wage gap with men, many U.S. teens say women still face discrimination in these areas. And girls are much more likely than boys to say this, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of survey data from the University of Michigan. Overall, shares ranging from 48% to 53% of the nation’s 12th graders said in 2022 that women face a great or good deal of discrimination when it comes to: * Gaining leadership positions * Getting elected to political office * Getting equal pay for equal work ...For each item, girls were at least twice as likely as boys to say women face a lot of discrimination." https://lnkd.in/gR6iTwbH #workplacediscrimination #genderbias #genderdiscrimination #equalpay #womenleaders

November is Native American Heritage Month. "Michigan is home to a total of 12 federally-acknowledged Indian tribes that enjoy a special status under federal law and treaties. Federally-acknowledged tribes are not merely organizations of citizens who happen to be of Native American descent. Rather, they are sovereign governments that exercise direct jurisdiction over their members and territory and, under some circumstances, over other citizens as well. Tribal governments provide a wide array of governmental services to their members including lawmaking, tribal police and court systems, health, and education services, and many more. The state generally does not have legal authority over tribal governments and tribal members when they are inside the tribe's territory - those lands designated as the tribe's reservation or trust lands. Instead, the state interacts with tribes on a government-to-government basis. This has lead in recent years to a number of formal government-to-government agreements on a variety of subjects including such matters as treaty fishing rights, taxation, water quality issues, economic development, and casino gaming. On this web page you will find links to such agreements and to various state government resources and information regarding tribes and tribal issues. You also find links to the tribal government web site for each of the twelve tribes." Find links to information about Michigan's twelve tribes here: https://lnkd.in/gagHZbPW #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #indigenouspeopleofmichigan #nativeamericansofmichigan #federallyrecognizedtribes Image credit: FotoGuy 49057, "The Indians of Michigan," CC BY 2.0, via flickr <https://lnkd.in/gM6v4SxN>. The map was drawn by Geraldine L. Cowell and is dated 1960.

Just in time for this year's Hindu celebration of Diwali, that starts tomorrow morning and ends on Friday morning, Mattel has launched Diwali Barbie. As this story from NPR recounts, earlier versions of an Indian Barbie were highly criticized for being stereotypical and inauthentic. The new Diwali Barbie is being better received. https://lnkd.in/gNmQvhNf #Diwali #diwalibarbie2024 #RepresentationMatters

It's scary but true, On average, women earn just 84 cents for every dollar a man earns, and wage gap is even greater for women of color. At the current rate of progress, it will be 2088 before gender wage parity is achieved. Read AAUW's report "The Simple Truth about the Gender Wage Gap" to learn more: https://lnkd.in/ez8D3Rj If you are horrified about this situation and want to take action to close the gender wage gap sooner, contact your legislators in Washington to let them know you want them to support the Paycheck Fairness Act. AAUW makes it easy with it's Two-Minute Activist platform. It truly won't take more than two minutes of your time to contact your legislators: https://lnkd.in/eWivEXh7 #genderwagegap #EqualPay #payequality #twominuteactivist #PaycheckFairnessAct

AAUW has denounced the dismantling of DEI initiatives in higher education in Iowa and Florida. "'Universities are where students go to expand their knowledge and experiences,' said Gloria L. Blackwell, Chief Executive Officer of AAUW. 'But politicians in Iowa and Florida are forcing their agenda on higher education, policing what students see and learn and how universities manage their affairs. These cowardly attacks by right-wing state legislatures are a direct response to the progress made by women and people of color.' Blackwell said that the attacks on DEI are troubling. They come amid a chorus of other associations like the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) who also raised concerns about the attacks on DEI. 'Diversity, equity, and inclusion gave us the 15th and 19th Amendments, expanding the political process to include voices across racial and gender lines by giving people of color and women the right to vote,' she said. 'The need for equity and inclusion gave us Title IX, which prohibited sex-based discrimination in educational settings. While many want to make ‘DEI’ into a slur, the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion make us a stronger and more equitable nation.' Increasingly, more states are cracking down on providing funding to their public institutions that embrace DEI initiatives. That, says, Blackwell, is reason for concern. 'Despite progress, there is still much work needed to break down barriers to full access, opportunity and participation in higher education for all,' she said. 'Iowa and Florida’s hostility toward women and people of color is part of a larger trend that reaches all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. AAUW remains committed to our mission of advancing gender equity for women — especially women of color — through education and advocacy.'" https://lnkd.in/gHHfhf_q #AAUW #gloriablackwell #deiinhighereducation #diversityequityinclusion

You might have seen social media posts over the past year reminding us that women couldn't get credit cards issued in their own name or qualify for business, mortgage, or personal loans without a male co-signer prior to 1974. A married woman would have to provide documentation from a doctor stating that she was using birth control for her income to be considered with her husband's when determining whether a married couple qualified for a mortgage. The legislation that ended this blatant sex discrimination ended on today's date in 1974 when the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) was signed into law by President Gerald Ford. Marketplace recounts how feminist advocacy organizations including the National Organization for Women were instrumental in pressing for the legislation. The ECOA led to the creation of today's credit scoring system, which has its own historic and systemic biases against people of color and other disadvantaged groups. The article cautions that if today's credit scoring algorithms with their current biases are fed into AI models, the AI models are likely to perpetuate this discrimination. https://lnkd.in/g2BmeBGv #equalcreditopportunityact #ecoa #creditdiscrimination #discriminationinlending

The Cut from New York Magazine has compiled quotes about power from 25 well-known female leaders from around the world. There's probably at least one quote here that will provide you with hope and inspiration. https://lnkd.in/gwVixUhr #womenleaders #womenandpower #powerfulwomen #quotablewomen