Women’s roles in society have changed significantly throughout the years. The movement to support the rights of women has been ongoing throughout the evolution of society but has been especially prevalent in the last century. The 1960s are when women began to enter the workforce instead of being limited to presuming roles as homemakers. Since that point in time, women have continued to thrive in the workforce and have pursued a larger variety of positions in various fields. Even though the opportunities for women continue to grow, there still seems to be an underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related fields. The underrepresentation of women pursuing physician and entrepreneurship roles in STEM will be analyzed and the challenges this group of people specifically encounter will be examined. Our first proposal to encourage women to enter STEM focuses on middle-school initiatives and incubator programs. The second proposal, based on commonalities females face within the workforce, is finding a better work/home life balance with the development of new maternity/paternity leave policies. Through these initiatives, we believe that the gender gap in STEM can be bridged.

This report attempts to understand the effects of the many aspects that pertain to a woman’s path into the construction industry and their role in limiting women’s overall representation in the construction industry. More specifically, it aims to understand how upbringing, background, and culture impact women that do pursue careers in the construction industry. This paper presents some of the current and prominent issues being faced by women in in the construction industry, including those in the trades. These issues then contribute to their lack of representation and forceful exit. Additionally, it assesses personal narratives from a localized group of women who are currently employed at a large construction company. This information and these narratives are analyzed jointly to try and gain a better understanding of the current challenges being faced by women in comparison to those reported previously. This joint comparison allows for a deeper understanding of women’s perception of the construction industry as a whole.

American Sign Language (ASL) is used for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) individuals to communicate and learn in a classroom setting. In ASL, fingerspelling and gestures are two primary components used for communication. Fingerspelling is commonly used for words that do not have a specifically designated sign or gesture. In technical contexts, such as Computer Science curriculum, there are many technical terms that fall under this category. Most of its jargon does not have standardized ASL gestures; therefore, students, educators, and interpreters alike have been reliant on fingerspelling, which poses challenges for all parties. This study investigates the efficacy of both fingerspelling and gestures with fifteen technical terms that do have standardized gestures. The terms’ fingerspelling and gesture are assessed based on preference, ease of use, ease of learning, and time by research subjects who were selected as DHH individuals familiar with ASL.

The data is collected in a series of video recordings by research subjects as well as a post-participation questionnaire. Each research subject has produced thirty total videos, two videos to fingerspell and gesture each technical term. Afterwards, they completed a post-participation questionnaire in which they indicated their preference and how easy it was to learn and use both fingerspelling and gestures. Additionally, the videos have been analyzed to determine the time difference between fingerspelling and gestures. Analysis reveals that gestures are favored over fingerspelling as they are generally preferred, considered easier to learn and use, and faster. These results underscore the significance for standardized gestures in the Computer Science curriculum for accessible learning that enhances communication and promotes inclusion.