Gender Gap

I enjoy the serenity of rare agnosticism on the matter of legalized gambling. I can turn the debate this way or that and see both sides. To learn more and perhaps claim a side, I drove to Dover Downs on a lovely spring day last year to see if it would serve up a cautionary tale or a fairy tale for Maryland. It took a few minutes to habituate myself to the cacophony created by 2,500 slot machines whistling, clanking and whirring at the same time. After that, the first thing that struck me seemed so obvious that I could not imagine I had not heard it before.

Fact: The empathy factor was a big winner for President Barack Obama. Opinion: It proved impossible for a wealthy CEO-type to compete in the "he cares about us" category. Mitt Romney's "47 percent" comment most certainly (further) strengthened this narrative. But it was the Obama campaign's relentless rhetoric against wealth and income disparity that carried the day with enough middle-class voters. Fact: Democratic candidates successfully exploited the gender gap when nobody was looking.

CHICAGO -- Women are increasingly outnumbering men at America's colleges, a gap that is widest - and most troublesome - among low-income and minority students, researchers said in a report released yesterday. The share of males age 24 and younger dropped to 45 percent in 2003-2004, from 48 percent in 1995-1996. The gap is even wider for students older than 25, and among African-Americans and Latinos, particularly those from low-income families. "Yes, this is a matter of concern, but let's put it in context," said Jacqueline King, the author of the study by the American Council on Education.

Researchers have found one more clue in their search for the reason that girls don't do as well as boys in math: a nation's culture. Scientists compared math and reading scores on tests given to thousands of 15-year-old students in 40 countries and then examined how each country ranked in terms of gender equality. While girls generally scored lower in math than boys, girls did better in countries with greater gender equality than in less progressive countries. Girls performed best in countries such as Norway and Iceland, which have progressive gender policies, and worst in countries such as Turkey, which scored relatively low on standard measures of gender equality.

WASHINGTON -- Oh my gawd. Stop them before they hug again. Here comes Bill. There is Monica. See the back of Bill's head. See Monica's beaming smile. See them embrace. Freeze frame. Start again.Do they have this video clip on a continual loop? At this point in the news cycle -- or news recycle -- Bill and Monica have been together more often on television than in real life.Oh no! Here it comes again. This time, she's got the beret! Why do I have the feeling that we are witnessing a new form of media water torture.

WASHINGTON -- Judging by the uproar over Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers' ungraceful speculations about the shortage of elite female scientists and mathematicians, you might think women weren't doing so well in school. Not so. In many ways, they're beating the pants off the guys. Women nationwide have been closing gaps or surging ahead of men in just about every academic arena over the last three decades. Even in areas such as the sciences, where they remain underrepresented, they are catching up. The bad news is the guys.

WASHINGTON - New census figures offer dramatic evidence of education's big payback: Income for African-Americans with a four-year college degree has increased so much since the civil rights advances of the 1960s that we have almost closed our historical income gap with four-year, college-educated whites. In 2003, the latest year for which figures are available, blacks with a bachelor's degree had a median income of $36,694, which is almost as high as the $38,667 median income of whites with a bachelor's degree.

WASHINGTON -- Almost every woman in, around, close to or in any way connected with the upper reaches of the Bush White House will have her moment on the convention podium in Houston next week, part of the GOP's attempt to prove it's just as female-friendly as the next party.But this display may do little to close the sizable "gender gap" currently dogging George Bush in the polls. Although such a gap has plagued the Republican Party for at least the last decade, the trend is exacerbated this year by the scores of GOP women breaking ranks with the party over the abortion issue.

THE POUT FEST started at City College last fall. It was interrupted briefly by city school chief Dr. Robert Booker but then picked up again in January. The culprit -- or hero -- is City College Principal Joe Wilson, who has instituted new requirements for participating in extracurricular activities. Students who are absent four times can't participate, nor can those who are late 14 times. Students have to keep a 70 average, as well as a grade of 60 or better in three classes. Some City students -- and even some faculty -- have a problem with this.

Researchers have found one more clue in their search for the reason that girls don't do as well as boys in math: a nation's culture. Scientists compared math and reading scores on tests given to thousands of 15-year-old students in 40 countries and then examined how each country ranked in terms of gender equality. While girls generally scored lower in math than boys, girls did better in countries with greater gender equality than in less progressive countries. Girls performed best in countries such as Norway and Iceland, which have progressive gender policies, and worst in countries such as Turkey, which scored relatively low on standard measures of gender equality.

Declaring and debunking crises has become a subsidiary industry of the gender wars. The latest to roll off the D&D assembly line is a study from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) that purports to debunk the idea of a "boys crisis," which followed closely on the heels of a purported "girls crisis." Boys are doing just fine, say the AAUW authors, who also insist that the boy crisis was a fabrication of people who are uncomfortable with the progress of girls and women. The authors also assert that girls' development hasn't come at the expense of boys, as some allegedly claim.

Years ago, Denise Ferguson would drive over the Key Bridge, point at the sailboats in the water, and tell her children, "I'm going to do that someday," while secretly terrified at the prospect. Then one day, she showed up at a boat dock and was asked to help crew. She agreed. "I've always been scared to death of the wind, and I was terrified of even the idea of sailing," said Ferguson, 54, who raised her children in Bel Air before moving recently to Pennsylvania. "It was time I confronted my fear, and they needed a crew member.

I enjoy the serenity of rare agnosticism on the matter of legalized gambling. I can turn the debate this way or that and see both sides. To learn more and perhaps claim a side, I drove to Dover Downs on a lovely spring day last year to see if it would serve up a cautionary tale or a fairy tale for Maryland. It took a few minutes to habituate myself to the cacophony created by 2,500 slot machines whistling, clanking and whirring at the same time. After that, the first thing that struck me seemed so obvious that I could not imagine I had not heard it before.

Although women have made significant gains in education and income during the past three decades, the pay gap between college-educated men and women continues to widen in the years after graduation, experts say. A new report to be released today by the American Association of University Women sheds light on what is holding back many female graduates and what they can do to catch up. The gender gap will remain until more women pursue careers in science...

Elizabeth Beer thought her high school nemesis was math. She took advanced courses, but it was the only subject in which straight A's eluded her. Her real nemesis, she later concluded, might have been her math teacher, who dished out discouragement. "He didn't think women belonged in math," recalls Beer, a third-year doctoral student in the Johns Hopkins University's applied mathematics and statistics department. The teacher's message - that women are innately math-deficient - didn't keep Beer from succeeding in the subject in the long run, but it could explain her early struggles.

We've had soccer moms, security moms, NASCAR dads, South Park Republicans and Yellow Dog Democrats - real or imagined archetypes that have emerged over the years to define the political leanings of various groups. Surely someone now will have to come up with a label for those women who are closing the gender gap - which generally favors Democrats - between Maryland's gubernatorial candidates. As reporter John Fritze wrote this Sunday, The Sun's recent poll shows that Mayor Martin O'Malley's support among women went from an 11 percentage point lead over Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., in July to a 6 percentage point lead this month.

Concerned about girls' lagging achievement in science, math and technology, Maryland educators are increasingly turning to summer programs to combat the gender gap. Single-sex programs are popping up in schools and on college campuses across the state, focusing on hands-on instruction in subjects that traditionally have had a tough time attracting girls. "Summer is a great opportunity for us to work with the girls and focus on science," says Lynn C. Cole, an associate professor at Towson University and director of its Institute for Gifted Children.

THE NUMBER and quality of female candidates running for office around the country had raised expectations of significant gains in the number of women elected to major offices. But despite some notable wins -- two new women were elected to the U.S. Senate -- there will be no change in the Senate's gender ratio since two other women are departing, one to retirement and one because of a primary election defeat. Final results in the House are still pending. Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, voters elected their first female governor.

Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has made significant strides among women voters in recent months - eliminating a political gender gap that has historically benefited Democrats, a new poll for The Sun shows. Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley's support among women dropped from an 11 percentage point lead over Ehrlich in July to 6 percentage points this month, suggesting that Ehrlich's effort to wrest female voters from his Democratic opponent is paying off. In a series of television advertisements airing in the Baltimore media market over the past several weeks, Ehrlich has pounded on problems faced by the city's schools, stressing an issue that many believe resonates strongly with women.

CHICAGO -- Women are increasingly outnumbering men at America's colleges, a gap that is widest - and most troublesome - among low-income and minority students, researchers said in a report released yesterday. The share of males age 24 and younger dropped to 45 percent in 2003-2004, from 48 percent in 1995-1996. The gap is even wider for students older than 25, and among African-Americans and Latinos, particularly those from low-income families. "Yes, this is a matter of concern, but let's put it in context," said Jacqueline King, the author of the study by the American Council on Education.