In the Fall of 1998, President Katharine Lyall announced the establishment
of the UW System Initiative on the Status of Women. The Committee on the
Status of Women, which she appointed, issued its report in 1999:
Equality for Women in the UW System: A Focus for Action in the Year 2000 (pdf).
The report recommended that the UW System emphasize collaborations that would:
- improve
campus climate/reduce violence in any form;
- recruit and retain
more women in science, mathematics, engineering and technology-related
areas;
- create environments
that balance work-related expectations with personal responsibilities;
and
- promote increased
participation in decision-making, governance and leadership.
Several activities underway within the System address these concerns.
The Inclusivity Initiative is taking the lead for assessing the climate at UWS institutions for
all students, faculty, and staff. The Women and Science Program focuses on diversity and equity in
science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The
institutions of the UW System as well as the Office of the President
participate in the programs sponsored by Wisconsin Women in Higher Education Leadership (WWHEL).
In addition to the systemwide
collaborations, UWS institutions undertake activities to enhance
gender equity within their boundaries. The information can be
obtained from institutional reports on the status of women.
President Kevin Reilly established in December 2005
a Working Group on the Status of Women to help him determine the priorities his
administration should establish. He charged the group with reviewing the
results from the report of the Committee on the Status of Women to
identify the advances made, the issues meriting continued attention,
and the arrangements attending to them. Its report is due to the President
by the end of the 2005-06 academic year.
