Asian Americans make up 50% of the engineering students at UCLA and UCB, but only 24% of the technical staff at Hughes Aircraft and 5% of the technical managers. The numbers in TRW's space and defense sector are 20% and 11%. Some see a glass ceiling for Asians in aerospace, as there used to be for European and Jewish ethnic groups. Some of the world's best companies are run by Asians, and it would make sense for U.S. companies to use all available experience in dealing with the Far East. [LA Times. SJM, 11/22.] (Even if the ceiling is gone, it will take a while before newcomers get a shot at management.)

Secretaries earn about $18.5K, and the job title can trap women for life. Those with technical skills may be able to work as executive or administrative assistants. Professional secretaries (by whatever title) earn $25K (average) to $35K or more. 98% are women. [Professional Secretaries International (Kansas City, MO). Carol Kleiman, Chicago Tribune. SJM, 4/12.]

Women are still earning only 70% of men's salaries, and more like 50% in high-profile/male-dominated fields such as medicine. Jobs in elementary school education are no exception, with women averaging $29K in 1989 and men averaging $35K. Part-time salaries are even more disparate. Economists variously blame discrimination, channeling to lower-paying jobs, and an average of fewer years on the job (sometimes to care for children or sick family). [LA Times. SJM, 12/29.]

Women have been earning managerial titles, but are given final decision-making authority less often than white or black men. 90 women managers studied (using 1982 data) were twice as likely to be working for the government as 134 men studied, and averaged 54% of the men's salaries. Only 36% of the women were in top management (vs. 56% of the men), and only 17% had supervisors reporting to them (vs. 35% of the men). Women usually supervised female clerical workers, where men supervised male managers and production workers. [Barbara F. Reskin, "Job Queues, Gender Queues." Chicago Tribune. SJM, 12/13.]

In 1991, the Supreme Court unanimously granted the EEOC access to UPennsylvania faculty records so that it could investigate a charge of sexual discrimination. Federal laws protect student records, but access to faculty files is determined by each state. In Florida, a 1973 law limits access to the individual being reviewed and those making promotion decisions. Groups such as the Association of American University Women would like greater access for their own investigations. [Shelly Rees, The News, 8/29. agentsee.]

Michael Schrage notes that women constitute 40% of the Computer-Human Interaction (CHI) conference leadership. [SF Examiner, 5/17.]

The U.S. Small Business Adminstration says that women-owned businesses have more employees than all the Fortune 500 companies combined. By the year 2000, women will own almost half of all American businesses. New Woman magazine recently awarded $40K to three of the 2,500 business plans submitted by women. The National Association of Female Executives also has a small venture fund for members. [UPI, 10/8. agentsee.]

"Women, Technology and Power" by Marguerite Zientara profiles Esther Dyson (Release 1.0), Portia Isaacson (Future Computing), Therese Myers (Quarterdeck), Joyce Wrenn (IBM), Janelle Bedke (Software Publishing), Lorraine Mecca (Micro D), and four others. Amacom Books, 282 pp., $14.95, autographed on request. Marguerite Zientara, P.O. Box 11, Nahant, MA 01908. [CC, 8/11.]