2006-2007 Campus Action Project teams selected

The 2006-2007 Campus Action Project(CAP) theme was Planning for an Economically-Secure Future to coincide with AAUW's focus on higher education as the gateway to women’s economic security. The objective of this year’s program was to provide a platform for programming to raise awareness of some of the important issues that young women face as they transition from undergraduate studies to first careers and graduate school.

While several measures of educational achievement show that on average women are faring as well as their male counterparts today, often times these gains do not translate into comparable economic success beyond college. In 2004, college-educated women 25 and older earned 75 percent of what their male peers earned. This pay gap appears within the first year after college – even when women are working full-time in the same fields as men – and widens in the first ten years in the workforce. AAUW Educational Foundation research points to several factors that appear to be pivotal including the field of study, the decision to have children, and occupational choice.1

Selected teams implemented a project that addressed some of the choices that impact young women's career-decision making, affect women in the workplace, and have important implications for women's overall economic security.

The CAP program presents an opportunity to extend awareness and create change on campuses throughout the country and is an excellent platform for ongoing leadership training and support of women student leaders. Participating campuses also benefit from enhanced career and academic advising programs with either a new or renewed focus on a critical issue for all those who care about equity and women's economic security. Projects have included web-based activities, in-person workshops, art exhibits, special supplements to student newspapers, student surveys, or other activities that promote public awareness of the challenges facing college women as they begin their professional lives.

¹ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1993/2003 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study.

 

Questions? Call 202/785/7719 or send an e-mail to cap@aauw.org.