The Institute - September 2019 - 12

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Lobby governments to create better
laws around family leave, including
maternity and paternity leave.
Partner with other organizations that
are already working on behalf of women
to create programs or enhance existing ones.
Educate women on how to recognize
and deal with discrimination.

Based on the suggestions, as well as other
concerns that were brought to the attention
of the IEEE Board of Directors, in February
the Board approved the formation of an
ad hoc committee on diversity, inclusion,
and professional ethics [see page TI-8]. IEEE
Fellow Andrea Goldsmith was appointed
chair of the committee.
Three IEEE presidents wrote a letter in
response to an article published in IEEE
Spectrum's November issue about the
findings from a U.S. National Academies
of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
study released in June 2018 that examined
sexual harassment. The report found that
sexual harassment in science, engineering, and medicine has broad impacts, and
it undermines women's educational and
professional success. The Spectrum article
was written by C.D. Mote Jr., president
of the National Academy of Engineering,
and two of the report's authors.
In their letter, IEEE President José M.F.
Moura, 2018 President Jim Jefferies, and
2017 President Karen Bartleson talked
about IEEE's commitment to maintaining a culture that is diverse, inclusive,
and respectful. They discussed IEEE's
efforts aimed at improving transparency
and accountability, encouraging strong
and diverse leadership, and inspiring
all members of the engineering community to be responsible for reducing
and preventing harassment.
"Harassment and discrimination of
any kind undermine us all," they wrote.
"At IEEE, we strive to advance a professional environment where all individuals
feel welcome and safe and are able to
contribute to the best of their abilities."
-KATHY PRETZ
This article originally appeared online as "IEEE
Survey Finds That Female Technologists Face
Unequal Treatment and Sexist Workplaces."

TI-12

SEP 2019

THE INSTITUTE

tech history

How Katherine
Johnson Plotted
NASA's Course
The mathematician received the IEEE
President's Award for her work on Apollo
KATHERINE JOHNSON'S mathematical calculations of orbital
mechanics at NASA were critical to the success of Friendship 7 and
several other U.S. human spaceflights. She was one of the women featured in the 2016 Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures.
In May, IEEE recognized her work with its President's Award, "for
fundamental computational contributions to the success of America's
first and subsequent manned spaceflights, including Apollo 11." Johnson,
who turned 100 in August 2018, was unable to travel to the ceremony. Her
daughters, Katherine Goble Moore and Joylette Goble Hylick, accepted
the award on her behalf at the IEEE Honors Ceremony, held on 17 May in
San Diego. Johnson "has a real passion for learning, and always aspired
to teach others everything she knew," Hylick said. You can watch the
presentation on IEEE.tv.

NASA (2)

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https://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/tech-careers/national-academies-report-says-sexual-harassment-is-a-threat-to-engineering https://spectrum.ieee.org/magazine/2018/November http://sites.nationalacademies.org/shstudy/index.htm https://www.nae.edu/7222.aspx https://www.nae.edu/ https://www.nasa.gov/content/katherine-johnson-biography https://history.nasa.gov/friendship7/ https://www.foxmovies.com/movies/hidden-figures https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-institute/ieee-news/ieee-survey-finds-that-female-technologists-face-unequal-treatment-and-sexist-workplaces https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-institute/ieee-news/ieee-survey-finds-that-female-technologists-face-unequal-treatment-and-sexist-workplaces https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-institute/ieee-news/ieee-survey-finds-that-female-technologists-face-unequal-treatment-and-sexist-workplaces http://ieeetv.ieee.org/ieeetv-specials/ieee-honors-ceremony-2019

The Institute - September 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Institute - September 2019