STATUS OF WOMEN AND GIRLS IN
GEORGIA (SOWING)
PROJECTS
Our Focus areas are: Education, Economic Security, Leadership and Health
Education
Dropping out seriously jeopardizes the future economic security and wellbeing of girls and their families. Female dropouts earn considerably less than male counterparts.
Across racial and ethnic groups, female dropouts are substantially less likely to be employed than female students who finish high school.Although the overall graduation rates for women are greater than for men, differences remain in the relative performance of female and male students at younger ages, with girls scoring higher than boys on reading assessment and lower on math assessment.
These differences can be seen in fields that women pursue in college; female students are less well represented than men in science and technology-related fields, which typically lead to higher paying occupations.Women are earning postsecondary degrees at a faster rate than men are, yet a wage gap persists. While more education is an effective tool for increasing earnings, it is not an effective tool against the gender pay gap. At every level of academic achievement, women’s median earnings are less than men’s median earnings and in some cases, the gender pay gap is larger at higher levels of education.
STEM Mentorship
Town Hall Meeting: Thursday, May 21, 2015, 2:00pm-2:30pm
RSVP Click to register .
Georgia is very active in providing pathways to STEM mentoring. You are invited to meet Georgia’s Co-Chairs and to participate in a Townhall meeting to discuss ways in which the Georgia Chapter of Million Women Mentors (MWM) can assist your organization by providing mentors for your STEM programs. We will walk you through the steps to fully utilize the resources of MWM.
Leadership
International Women’s Think Tank’s Distinguished Scholars Series
Theme: Women's Leadership in a Cyber World
Date: Thursday, October 22, 2015
Time: 5:00pm – 8:00pm
Where: Biltmore Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia
Leadership is described as "a process of social influence in which a person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task; Georgia’s leadership scorecard for women clearly demonstrates that women must collectively leverage this social influence.
While Georgia’s five million women represent more than 50 percent of the state’s population, they hold nearly 23 percent seats in the state Legislature, they hold no seats in Congress and no statewide executive seats. In the workplace, women hold approximately 38.38 percent of management positions.
Health
Women's Health Network
The Women’s Health Network (WHN) is a diverse group of organizations that seek to provide awareness about women’s health and support activities and programs that increase public awareness in addressing women’s health issues.
Economic Security
The strategy for economic empowerment of women is good for everyone; families, communities, corporations and governments; yet it is the missing link for sustainable development. Women reinvest incomes into their households for food, housing and education; these are critical factors to reducing poverty. Empowering their participation in entrepreneurship and economic development greatly enhances productivity and fosters sustainable economic growth.
In Georgia, approximately 20.6 percent of women and girls live in poverty. However, for women of color, particularly Hispanic, Native American, and African American women and girls, the rates of poverty are much higher. A positive note is Georgia’s 58.7 percent rate of four-year-olds enrolled in state pre-K is among the top 10 in the country.
Key economic challenges facing women in Georgia:
High unemployment (only demographic that has not changed in the recovery)
Longer periods of unemployment
Pay inequity
Concentration in low-paying jobs
Child care assistance
Transportation
Skills gap (technology)
Women entrepreneurs play a pivotal role in the industrial, agriculture and service sectors of economies. IWTT’s Entrepreneurial & Economic Development Initiatives provide necessary tools to move towards economic empowerment and inclusive growth.