An article in this morning’s New York Times highlights a recent research project which proved what women playwrights have always known: women playwrights have a tougher time getting their work staged and acted than men do.

But the research study also found a few things that surprised everyone, including the fact that it is women artistic directors and literary managers who are often the ones to blame for this reality. Researchers came to this conclusion after sending identical scripts to artistic directors and literary managers around the country. One half of the identical scripts had the name of a man on it as the writer, while the other half had the name of a woman. Overall, the same script with a woman’s name on it received significantly worse ratings than those with a man’s name on it when it was being rated by a woman artistic director/manager. Male artistic directors/managers rated the manuscripts the exact same.

So what’s at the root of this discrimination? There’s no way to know for sure, but the primary researcher, Emily Glassberg Sands, suggests that perhaps artistic directors who are women possess a greater awareness of the barriers female playwrights face, and therefore perceived their plays differently.

To add yet another layer to this surprising data is the fact that female-authored plays on stage during the research period actually made more money than shows written by men, selling 16% more tickets. Yet, better ticket sales didn’t mean that producers kept the shows running any longer than less profitable shows written by men, something that Emily pointed out as clear discrimination.

While I find the results of this study dismal to say the least, the fact that women artistic directors and literary managers so clearly discriminated against women playwrights without considering the merits of the work itself is, to me, the biggest disappointment. When institutionalized gender discrimination is at play, how are women ever going to truly gain equality in career opportunities and pay?

What’s your take on this study?

A new study from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) found that only 10% of girls thought majoring in computer science was a good idea versus 45% of boys. The study also found boys were more comfortable than girls doing things like learning a new software program, setting up a wireless network or even editing music or video on a computer.

The fact that fewer girls are pursuing careers in math, science, and technology isn’t news, but I still found these statistics surprising. So what is it about girls and computers that makes girls less likely to focus on technology in their learning? Is it lack of interest? Fear over being pegged a “nerd?”

Maybe.

The study found that girls don’t think computers are as “cool” as boys. They think of words like “boring,” “hard,” and “nerd” as being associated with computers, versus words like “design,” “games,” and “video” for boys.

“As long as teenagers believe that computer science is boring, difficult, anti-social, or doesn’t have much impact on solving the world’s problems, they’re unlikely to choose it for their future,” the study says.

The problem here is that more and more careers are going to be technology focused as we move into the future, and these shocking statistics are going to translate into a serious and growing gap in the opportunities women and men have in their careers down the road.

And I have to question whether or not girls really do think computers are boring and hard, or they’re just concerned about the way they are perceived by others, especially boys.

When I interviewed Kelly McCarthy, a female video game designer, for my book In Their Shoes, she explained that she was nervous about majoring in computer science mainly because there were so few women doing it at the time.

What are your thoughts? Do you like learning about technology or avoid it like the plague? Do you label other students who are into technology as computer nerds? And finally, what do you think is the way to get more girls interested in math, science, and technology careers?

A few months ago, I blogged about the cool, inspirational documentary Girls Rock! which chronicled the life-changing experience of girls learning to channel their inner rock star at the camp by the same name.

Well, if you dream of being the next Gwen or Fergie or better yet, Alison Iraheta, or maybe you just want to grow as a person, bond with other cool girls, and learn a thing or two about music and collaboration, it’s not too late to sign up for a Girls’ Rock camp. Here are the details by city:

• Portland (the original camp featured in the documentary) - just added a new summer session
• Seattle: Extended application deadline to June 5th (I’m planning to participate in this camp!)
• Washington, DC: Offering a last-chance camp sign-up this Sunday, May 31st
• Memphis: Deadline for registering for the Delta Girls Rock Camp has been extended to June 1
• Austin: Still accepting applications
• Bay Area: Application deadline for second session is May 29th
• Atlanta: Still accepting applications
• Columbus, OH: Still accepting applications
• Peterborough, Ontario: Still accepting applications

Let me know if you’re planning to participate and want to write about your experiences for Smart Girls Know!

This week, teen social change organization Do Something honored five incredible social change agents as winners as their Do Something Awards. The awards recognize the difference these young people are making in the world, and gives each winner $10,000 to go towards the cause of their choice.

Each of the winners began their social change initiatives as teenagers, proving Do Something’s belief (and that of Smart Girls Know) that teenagers have the power to make a difference. Here is a quick look at the winners…I hope they inspire you the way they have me!

• Marvelyn Brown, age 24: The Marvelous Connections Tour - an activism tour about HIV/AIDS prevention and education. Marvelyn’s tour has resulted in more than 200,000 people getting tested for HIV.
• David Burstein, age 20: 18 in ‘08 - a film and peer-to-peer effort to get 18 year olds to register to vote. This youth-run initiative contributed to the highest registration of 18-22 year old voters in history.
• Maggie Doyne, age 22: Kopila Valley Children’s Home - a children’s home for the most innocent victims of a decade-long civil war in Nepal. Maggie used her life-savings to buy the land and build the home following a graduation trip to Asia.
• Eric Glustrom, age 24: Educate! - a program that empowers the next generation of socially responsible leaders through scholarships, funding, leadership seminars, mentorships and more. Eric was inspired after a trip to film a documentary in Uganda at the age of 17.
• Darius Weems, age 19: Darius Goes West - a documentary Darius made about the realities of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy which has raised more than $1.6 million for research to find a cure.

Congratulations to all the winners! And to find out more, including how you apply for one of Do Something’s weekly $500 seed grants, visit the Do Something website.

As summer approaches, you may be on the hunt for a summer job. And if so, you may find that jobs are harder to come by this year. With the unemployment rate for adults at a 30-year high, many jobs traditionally scooped up by out-of-school teens are now being held by adults. And that’s leaving a whole bunch of teens without the means to make the extra cash they need.

So what are many teens choosing to do? Get creative.

A recent article in USA Today says that more and more teens today are choosing to be entrepreneurs and take charge of their financial reality. From the article:

“Kids are actively considering starting their own businesses,” says Junior Achievement USA President Jack Kosakowski.

“It might be out of necessity, since there aren’t a lot of jobs out there. But they’re also seeing parents and other adults that have been loyal to companies for years … getting laid off, so these kids might be thinking, ‘Hey, I might be better off being my own boss.’ “

When I was writing my book In Their Shoes: Extraordinary Women Describe Their Amazing Careers, I featured a profile of entrepreneur Missy Park, founder of the Title Nine sports apparel catalog and stores for women. Missy had a lot of inspiring words for aspiring entrepreneurs. But what I loved most about what she had to say had to do with fear and failure. Here’s an excerpt from our interview:

Me: Do you think that not being afraid is an important quality for someone who wants to be an entrepreneur?

Missy: I do, actually. A buddy of mind once said, “You know, I’ve seen all kinds of entrepreneurs - some of them are really extroverted, some are really introverted, some are super smart and some aren’t that smart at all, some are really good with people, some aren’t. The only thing I can say that they all have in common is that none of them really care about what other people think.” Yeah, it’s hard to fail, and I don’t like it, but I’m never thinking, Oh, I’ve failed and what do other people think? I’m like, Damn, I wish I hadn’t screwed that up, you know?

Me: Without having someone show you the ropes of starting a company, how did you know that you could make Title 9 work?

Missy: I didn’t. For the first three or four years, I’d resolve that we were going to quit at least once every six months. You know that saying, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it?” There were times when I was nervous and I had a ton of doubts, and that still continues now. But I think that mastering your fear can fuel you to focus on the right things. I think that a lot of girls hate making mistakes, and it just kills me. They’re so worried about making mistakes, it’s like, “Wow, if you don’t make mistakes, how are you going to learn?”

So, what does it take to be a successful entrepreneur? A great idea (or several), confidence (and as Missy says, a healthy dose of fear), a willingness to fail, the ability to think outside the box, and being extremely self-motivated.

Does that describe you? Then maybe being entrepreneur is for you! To find out more about how to be a a successful entrepreneur, check out Junior Achievement or The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

It’s one of my most favorite days of the year…Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, created by the Ms. Foundation for Women. Started more than 16 years ago, the day was originally focused on girls and exposing them to the many possibilities they had for their career futures.

In 2003, the day was expanded to include boys, with an aim of showing young people the value of their education, helping them discover the power and possibilities associated with a balanced work and family life, and providing them an opportunity to share how they envision the future and begin steps toward their end goals in a hands-on and interactive environment is key to their achieving success.

Whether you are teen, parent, mentor, or educator, visit the official website’s activity center. Here you’ll find a lot of great resources on careers, as well as a cool activity book you can download.

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If participating in this special day has sparked in you an interest in pursuing a particular career path or just exploring what else is available to you, check out my book In Their Shoes: Extraordinary Women Describe Their Amazing Careers, in which I profile 50 women doing very cool careers. You can read a sample chapter, as well as download some of my original audio interviews at my website here!

If you live in the Boston area and are looking for a cool internship opportunity, teen magazine Teen Voices is currently accepting applications for development and editorial internships. Internships require a 15-20 hour a week commitment, and are unpaid. However, you can earn course credit, and undoubtedly you’ll get a bunch of great experience (not to mention have the chance to work at one of the coolest magazines on the planet!).

Here’s what the website says about each opportunity:

Editorial: Interested in magazine editing and publishing? Want experience at an internationally circulated teen-written and teen-edited magazine? As an Editorial Assistant, you will assist the Editor-in-Chief in all aspects of print and online magazine production including conducting background research, fact-check articles, copyediting, scheduling interviews, reviewing submissions, maintaining files, writing short pieces, and other editorial work as needed. 10 hours/week minimum.

Development Assistant: Does raising money for a good cause sound good to you? Then why not help Teen Voices fundraise? You’ll help our development staff manage donors, organize special events, submit grant proposals, research fundraising opportunities, and track donors and funders using our database. Computer skills required. 6-8 hours/week minimum.

Special Events Assistant: Interested in working on a big event and making it happen? Help Teen Voices and our development staff organize our special AMPLIFY! event, from contacting vendors, to helping with promotional materials, to coordinating work around auction, sponsorship and more! Organizational, communication, and computer skills required. 10-15 hours per week.

To apply, you’ll need to fill out an online application, attach your resume, cover letter, and 3-5 page nonfiction writing sample. You’ll be contacted within two weeks if the appropriate staff are interested in setting up an interview.

Good luck!

I just found out about a contest for all you aspiring filmmakers: the @15 Short Film Contest sponsored by Film Independent and presented by Best Buy.

If you’re between the ages of 13-18, you can enter an original short film from now through April 15, 2009 to throw your hat in the ring. Films will be judged based on quality, creativity of content, and ability to effectively tell a story.

Once the 15 finalists are selected by a panel of judges, teens will vote on their favorite films throughout the month of May. The winning film will receive a $1500 Best Buy gift card, and the other fourteen finalists will receive a $150 Best Buy gift card. To read the official contest rules and find out more, visit the contest web page here.

This isn’t the first time Best Buy has supported the creativity and talent of teens. They’re the co-sponsor of the @15 Challenge, which empowers teens ages 13 - 18 to see their ideas for social change come to life, which I blogged about last fall. To find out more about the @15 community, visit the website here!

If you’re a future designer and are setting your sites on going to design college in fall 2010, here’s a scholarship opportunity for you. The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and Teen Vogue have joined forces with Target to offer scholarships for top design schools for a few lucky talented teens.

The grand prize winner will receive up to $25,000 in tuition, plus a trip to Target headquarters in Minneapolis to work with the Target Design team and a trip to New York City to attend the CFDA Fashion Awards. Five runners-up will win $5,000 each, and all six finalists will receive a Singer sewing machine as well a collection of design books and guides.

Interested? Submit a completed application (including high school transcripts, two letters of recommendation, and an essay explaining why you want to be a designer) and a mood board (with sketches) illustrating your views on fashion between July 15 and July 20, 2009. Oh, and application forms won’t be available for download after June 30, so don’t delay!

Find out all the details here, and good luck!

I missed catching it when it was in theaters, but now that it’s out on DVD, I finally had a chance to watch the girl empowerment movie Girls Rock!, a smart and fun documentary about a week-long camp where girls ages 8-18 learn how to rock it out and reclaim their voice along the way.

The film follows a handful of girls as they stretch themselves in ways they never imagined, because at Girls Rock Camp, girls are taught that it’s “okay to sweat like a pig, scream like a banshee, wail on their instruments with complete and utter abandon, and that it is 100% okay to be exactly who you are.”

What I love about the idea of this amazing camp for girls is that it takes girls of all ages, from all walks of life, and puts them in situations where they’ll have to do the hard work of growing, learning about themselves (the good and the bad), finding ways to get along with people who aren’t necessarily like them, and overcoming their fears of expressing their inner rock star. While much of the camp (and the movie) is spent in small band groups writing and practicing a song for the end-of-week showcase, girls are also exposed to things like self defense, zine writing, song writing, and screen printing.

To get connected, visit the Girls Rock! Facebook page or MySpace page. To find out more about Girls Rock camps (they’re now in Portland, OR; Brooklyn, NY; Murfreesboro, TN; Philadelphia, PA; Bay Area, CA; Austin, TX; Washington D.C.; North Carolina, London, and Sweden, click here.

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Want to win the Girls Rock! DVD? Leave a comment below sharing a time you took a risk and let the real you shine through and describe how it felt, and you’ll automatically be entered to win. Two winners will be selected next Thursday, March 5th. Good luck!