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News Bites
Information of interest from other publications
related to quality, participation, change, and
leadership
University of Michigan Study Helps Define
Why Fewer Women Choose Math-Based
Careers
A study by two University of
Michigan researchers suggests that girls and boys who
are confident in their math abilities tend to pick a
science career based on their values more than on
their skills.
The study found that both boys and girls who were
people-oriented tended to choose college majors in
the biological sciences—medicine, environmental
sciences, or social sciences—rather than the
mathematically based sciences, such as engineering,
physics, or astronomy. It also found that math
self-confidence, while stronger in boys than girls,
played a much smaller role in the choice of college
majors and careers than previously thought.
The study by Jacquelynne Eccles, a professor of
psychology and women’s studies and a research
scientist in the university’s Institute for
Research on Women and Gender (IRWG) and Mina Vida, a
research associate in IRWG, is based on a data set
collected over 17 years as part of the Michigan Study
of Adolescent Life Transitions (MSALT). MSALT
followed some 1,700 southeastern Michigan students
from sixth grade through college and beyond, looking
at a wide variety of interests, motivation, and
achievement-related self-concepts.
“Girls do tend to underestimate their math
ability in high school even though their actual
performance is just as good as that of the boys, but
that’s not what pushes them away from
mathematically based majors,” Eccles said.
“There are two key factors in that decision:
how much they believe in the ultimate utility of
mathematics and how much they value working with and
for people.”
Boys in the survey tended to rank the utility of
mathematics more highly while girls placed a higher
value on English. In addition, girls were more likely
to be people-oriented. “Given this data,
it’s not surprising that there are many more
men than women in math-based majors and
careers,” Eccles said. “Boys’
beliefs and values are pulling them toward those
areas while girls’ are pushing them in other
directions.”
Eccles points out that women are going into
science, but they tend to concentrate on the life and
social sciences. For instance, in 1997, 63% of
psychologists and 42% of biologists were women,
compared with 10% of physicists and astronomers and
9% of engineers. In 2002, women made up 43% of the
incoming U-M Medical School class, but were just 14%
of doctoral students in the College of
Engineering.
Eccles and Vida’s research suggests that
those who want to attract and retain more women in
math-based academic programs and careers in industry
need to develop different intervention programs for
girls and young women. “It’s not enough
to simply try to raise girls’ confidence
levels,” Eccles said. “We need to develop
interventions that will not only demonstrate the
utility of mathematics, but also show how the
mathematically based sciences do something concrete
to help people.”
Brazil Announces National Quality
Awards
PGQP, ASQ’s WorldPartner
in Brazil presented awards to Aços Finos
Piratini in the large enterprise category,
Polietileno Industria e Comercio S.A. in mid-size
enterprises, and Hospital Irmandade Santa Casa de
Misericordia de Porto Alegre in the nonprofit
organization category. Other finalists were two Dana
Corporation divisions: Caraiba Metais S.A. and
SECRAE/MG.
Lawmakers Urged to Agree on Medical Error
Fixes
In June, patient safety experts urged
Congress to break an impasse over medical errors
legislation, saying that federal action was essential
to forming a “culture of quality” at U.S.
hospitals.
A bill creating a new system of nonprofit
“patient safety organizations” to collect
anonymous reports of hospital errors or
“near-misses” overwhelmingly passed the
U.S. House in March, but the measure has stalled in
the Senate because of disagreements over whether such
reports should be available to the public or should
be immune from lawsuits.
Leaders from national patient safety groups
pleaded with lawmakers to find agreement on the bill.
They warned that U.S. hospitals have balked at
substantially improving patient safety systems over
the last few years.
A 1999 report from the federally funded Institute
of Medicine estimated that 44,000 to 98,000 Americans
die in hospitals each year because of preventable
medical errors. The report spurred Congress and
several private groups to begin efforts to enhance
safety practices at health care
institutions.
Park Place Lexus Named 2003 Texas Award for
Performance Excellence Recipient
The
Quality Texas Foundation, administrator of
Texas’ premier annual performance excellence
award, announced that a luxury car dealership based
in Plano is the exclusive recipient of the 2003 Texas
Award for Performance Excellence. Park Place Lexus,
founded in 1991, provides new and pre-owned
automotive sales in addition to automotive service,
parts sales, financing, and other services. Their
mission is, “We will be the leader in the
personal automotive industry by exceeding
clients’ expectations in partnership with our
members.”
Park Place Lexus is the seventh largest Lexus
dealership in the nation. The organization’s
core convictions include: produce results, act with
integrity, personify quality, value and respect each
other, and learn. The dealership’s success can
be attributed to many performance excellence
principles, including exceeding clients’
expectations, earning their trust, and developing
long-term relationships.
In announcing the selection, Quality Texas
Foundation board chairman Dale Crownover said,
“The Quality Texas Foundation board
congratulates Park Place Lexus and looks forward to
the sharing of best practices.” Crownover also
commended the organization and its leadership,
stating, “Through persistence and a commitment
to improving, the organization has accomplished its
vision of achieving higher levels of performance
excellence.”
Women More Concerned About
Retirement
Women are more concerned
than men about retirement security, partly because
they have less confidence in investment portfolios
and savings levels, according to a new industry
survey.
The study—released in June 2003 by
Prudential Financial in Newark, NJ—found that
only 57% of the women polled were confident they
could achieve their retirement goals, compared with
73% of the men. The survey was conducted in December
2002 with 359 men and women between the ages of 45
and 60 who were employed full time. They were
selected by random-digit telephone dialing. The
survey had a margin of error of five percentage
points.
The survey also revealed that 47% of women worry
about having to postpone retirement while only 32% of
men share that concern. Additionally, women tend to
be less satisfied than men with their current level
of household savings.
“It’s a confidence issue, it’s a
learning issue, but also, women are being faced with
the demographic issue of living longer and having to
prepare for that,” said Gail Farkas, vice
president of agency distribution marketing for
Prudential Financial.
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