Today in History – June 21, 1946 - UN Commission on the Status of Women was established as a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to be “dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women”. The goal was to  “prepare recommendations and reports to the Council on promoting women’s rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields. The Commission also makes recommendations to the Council on urgent problems requiring immediate attention in the field of women’s rights.”

The Commission’s mandate was expanded in 1987 to include the objectives of “promoting equality, development and peace, monitoring the implementation of measures for the advancement of women, and reviewing and appraising progress made at the national, subregional, regional  and global levels”.

The 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, was a turning point for the Commission and led to the Beijing Platform for Action. (Photo captions – left: two participants; center: Hillary Rodham Clinton; right: Jane Fonda). The following specific areas of concern in 1995 have been used as benchmarks to assess the improvement of the status of women world-wide:

• Inequalities and inadequacies in and unequal access to education and training;

• Inequalities and inadequacies in and unequal access to health care and related services;

• Violence against women;

• The effects of armed or other kinds of conflict on women, including those living under foreign occupation;

• Inequality in economic structures and policies, in all forms of productive activities and in access to resources;

• Inequality between men and women in the sharing of power and decision-making at all levels;

• Insufficient mechanisms at all levels to promote the advancement of women;

• Lack of respect for and inadequate promotion and protection of the human rights of women;

• Stereotyping of women and inequality in women’s access to and participation in all communication systems, especially in the media;

• Gender inequalities in the management of natural resources and in the safeguarding of the environment;

• Persistent discrimination against and violation of the rights of the girl child.

In 2005, the Commission completed a ten-year review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing platform. In addition, the Member States reaffirmed the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and “pledged to ensure their full and accelerated implementation”. Although I was not in Beijing at the conference, I have spoken to women who were there. They all were profoundly touched by the disparity in women’s rights internationally.  I was heartened by their passion to be change agents in their own countries. In particular, I was amazed at the changes that the Saudi Arabian delegates brought home; their accomplishments include starting a new private college for women and changes in business practices to open the doors to hiring women in a much wider range of disciplines than before.

Check out the Engineering Pathway‘s many educational resources on women in engineering, women in information technology, women inventors and gender equity. One of my favorite resources is FairerScience, with practical advice on how to develop gender equitable classrooms and practices in math, science and engineering. We also have community groups in engineering diversity and computing diversity.

For a more indepth analysis of the issues associated with gender equity in our faculties and recommended solutions, read our “most commented” resource – the National Academies’ Beyond Bias and Barriers report. My editorial on the report was published in ASEE Prism, November 2006, vol. 16 (3). Obama and McCain Campaigns both commented on the report and other issues concerning women in science and technology during the election. Read a side-by-side comparison here. The first one concerns the recommendations of the Beyond Bias and Barriers report. We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions as well.

Also on this date in history in 1633 Galileo recanted that the earth revolved around the sun. More recently, in 2004 Space Ship One first enters space.