Council on Women and Girls Highlights

Welcome to the Council on Women and Girls Weekly Highlights! If you have friends or family who would like to support the efforts of the Council on Women and Girls, please visit our website and share this link with others on Facebook and Twitter.

“If we’re going to out-innovate and out-educate the rest of the world, then we have to open doors to everyone,” said Mrs. Obama during an event at the White House to announce the NSF Career-Life Balance Initiative. “We need all hands on deck. And that means clearing hurdles for women and girls as they navigate careers in science, technology, engineering and math.”

On Monday, First Lady Michelle Obama spoke about the importance of supporting and retaining women and girls who choose careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. science, the so-called STEM disciplines. As outlined in a Washington Post op-ed by Valerie Jarrett and Tina Tchen, on Monday the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a major, 10-year initiative to provide greater work-related flexibility to women in research careers. You can also find a great blog by John Holdren, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, detailing this announcement.

First Lady Michelle Obama addresses the National Science Foundation's Career-Life Balance initiative event in the East Room of the White House Sept. 26, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson) September 26, 2011.

As the First Lady spoke about our longer term strategy to create jobs, the President spoke this week about our shorter term strategy on education and jobs. Earlier this week, President Obama visited the Abraham Lincoln High School in Denver, Colorado to talk about how the American Jobs Act will help modernize schools like Lincoln High all across the country. The President is proposing a $25 billion investment in school infrastructure to repair and upgrade at least 35,000 public schools.