Although women attend universities and hold jobs in traditionally male-dominated fields, they have yet to achieve full equality. According to 2003 U.S. Census Bureau statistics, women make 76 cents to every dollar men earn. And Harvard University President Lawrence Summers' recent controversial remarks about women's innate lack of skills in science and math reflect a persistent stereotype that has prevented women from seeking careers in these fields, association members say.

"We were just floored," says Willow Glen resident and AAUW San Jose President Cynthia Ptacek of Summers' remarks. "He was just not thinking. It was very upsetting."

Association member Gloria Leonard says the organization has encouraged women and girls to tackle math and science and pursue related careers for several years. The AAUW has a national research division that tracks women's progress in many areas, including their study of math and science. Leonard says statistics show that although women are taking science classes, they are not selecting scientific careers.

"There is a disconnect," she says. "The AAUW is looking at why they aren't."

The statistics may be disconcerting, but the association's San Jose branch is trying to reverse the trend in the next generation. The association sponsors a program at John Muir Middle School called Tech Excellence, which tries to stimulate seventh- and eighth-grade girls' interest in science and augments what they learn in their regular classes.

"At this age, girls lose interest in science or feel like it's not cool to be smart," AAUW member Elaine Benoit says. "There is tremendous peer pressure, and girls dumb down and appear not to do their homework. We are trying to convince girls that it is okay to do these things."

Each month, the association brings in female speakers from a wide variety of scientific professions and takes the students on a field trip that pertains to the topic. To teach the girls about aviation, for instance, the group brought in a female pilot and then took students to the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos.

This month, the students are learning about health-related careers. A veterinarian came into the classroom with a few furry friends. To expand their knowledge of medical professions, the girls later visited O'Connor Hospital, where they learned about different departments in the medical center.

To pique girls' interest in science, the AAUW also sponsors Tech Trek, where girls who are about to enter eighth grade go to Stanford and participate in hands-on activities and field trips. Since its inception, the program has expanded to six campuses around the state.

And as part of its Women's History Month celebration, the San Jose branch of the AAUW, in conjunction with San José State University, holds an educational event called "Expanding Your Horizons." The program, which is open to girls in sixth through ninth grades, offers 43 workshops in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.

"The workshops are designed to attract girls to math and science and to show them that the subjects aren't dry and boring," Leonard says. "The subjects are relevant to their lives. We are still not getting girls into these areas, particularly engineering."

The focus of programs like Expanding Your Horizons may be on science, but the organization also wants to boost a girl's love of learning in all subjects. At this age, members say, girls begin to let their studies slip in order to avoid being labeled as a geek by their peers.

"In sixth grade, girls stop raising their hands," Ptacek says. "It's not cool to be smart at that age. We want to cancel that out."

Leonard also notes that social and media influences can pull girls away from their studies.

"Middle school girls are particularly vulnerable to cultural distractions," she says. "That is an age group where we see a need for keeping them on track with education, and not to buy into media and cultural influences that tell them they have no value unless they are thin, drop-dead gorgeous and wear tight jeans."

To help promote a positive self-image in adolescent girls, the association runs a program called "Take a Girl to Lunch" at Luther Burbank Middle School. As the name of the program suggests, a volunteer from the AAUW visits the school once a month to have lunch with an at-risk student and provide a listening ear. The organization tries to match girls with mentors who have similar interests and can encourage the students to strive for higher education. Benoit says many of the at-risk girls have no educational ambition beyond high school.

"Most of the girls are falling through the cracks," she says. "Often they have attendance issues. Sometimes they have problems at home, or sometimes they have no home to speak of. Mentoring programs like these help students stay involved."

Purpose and meaning

Although many of the organization's efforts are intended to spark a young girl's interest in learning, the AAUW also aids older women who wish to further their education. Nationally, the organization's educational foundation helps provide fellowships and grants to women who are pursuing a graduate or post-doctorate degree, including international students who wish to study in the United States.

Although the San Jose branch participates in fundraisers for the educational foundation, members have detected another group in the community that needs a helping hand—women who are entering college later in life. A scholarship is available to these students, no matter what their field of study, but the students must be juniors in college.

"We used to give scholarships to high school women, but a lot of people give them scholarships," Ptacek says. "We saw a need to help women trying to get back on their feet."

Last year was the first year the San Jose branch awarded scholarships to re-entry students. The association gave $3,000 to three women, and this year because the branch increased its fundraising efforts it's able to award $4,000 in scholarships.

Leonard can especially relate to women who choose to pursue higher education later in life. The eight-year AAUW member majored in the humanities at San José State University after retiring from her career as a legal secretary.

Completing her bachelor's degree allowed Leonard to fulfill two lifelong dreams—attending college and becoming eligible for AAUW membership.

"I liked the AAUW's mission, and I knew I would find a group of women who were likeminded and believed in finding opportunities for girls."

She adds, "The advocacy component was also very attractive to me."

Advocacy is a key priority for the association. Leonard has been actively involved in the organization's Public Policy Committee, a statewide unit of the AAUW that lobbies in Sacramento. The committee is nonpartisan but takes positions on legislative measures, particularly those that affect education and the lives of women. For example, the association takes a pro-choice stance. Representatives from the organization are lobbying in the state's capitol for education and health-care equality.

"We contact the bill author and suggest revisions," Benoit says. "We are not a major lobbyist, because our funding is not the same as major corporations. But I think we have developed a reputation for having a reasonable approach."

And, as in the early days of the AAUW, equality for both sexes is a primary goal for its members.

Ptacek says that although women have made enormous strides in academia, sexism still lingers, particularly for professional scholars. Women account for about half of all associate and assistant professors, but they only make up 7 percent of tenured professors, Ptacek says.

Through the Legal Action Fund, the AAUW provides financial assistance to women who are suing universities for sexual harassment or discrimination.

When Colleen Crangle—a former senior research scientist at Stanford University's School of Medicine—sued the university for alleged sexual discrimination and harassment, members of the San Jose branch came to the trial to show their support. In March 2000, Crangle won the case when a federal jury unanimously ruled in her favor.

An enduring sisterhood

Although today's women still battle sexism and "the glass ceiling," they are far removed from the cultural climate in which the AAUW was born. At the time the organization was founded, women had not yet earned the right to vote. Job opportunities were few, even for the handful of women who earned a college degree.

In 1881, Marion Talbot and Ellen H. Richards gathered a renegade band of female college graduates in Boston. Together, they began to brainstorm ways in which women could attain a university education and find job opportunities that were compatible with their expertise.

"Women's professions rarely required four-year degrees," Benoit says. "Teachers received a two-year degree, and registered nurses had three-year degrees. There were very few women who had college degrees."

Female college graduates may have been a rarity back then, but enough of them lived in the San Jose area to form a branch of the AAUW in 1909. Members say the first president was Mrs. J. O. Hayes—but her first name remains unknown.

"It's a mystery," says Fran Sneed, who has been a member of the association since 1950. "Even when I joined I was known as Mrs. Robert Sneed."

Sneed says the organization did not begin recording women's first names until the late 1960s.

In the late 1960s another change was underway in the San Jose branch of the association—the purchasing of a home at 1165 Minnesota Ave. that is still their headquarters. Prior to the purchase, the group met in members' homes. "The site in Willow Glen seemed central," Benoit says. "It worked out beautifully."

This central location is only one aspect in the association's ability to help women and those in need. Ptacek also credits local businesses and residents who have supported the AAUW over the years.

"A lot of fundraising we do comes from members," Ptacek says, "But a lot of it also comes from the community."

The San Jose branch of the AAUW is located at 1165 Minnesota Ave. For more information above scholarship programs, call 408.294.2430.