Financial Analysis

Introduction

"As featured in a thirty-year-old children's book, titled I'm Glad I'm a Boy! I'm Glad I'm a Girl!, the gender distinction 'boys invent things and girls use things that boys invent' remains uncomfortably true today." says Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher, authors of Unlocking the Clubhouse; Women in Computing. "...a cyberspace culture will inevitably reflect the desires and sensibilities of males to the exclusion and often denigration of females." The absence of women developing computer science becomes a social justice issue. (p.12) And the lack of women in other technical fields could be disastrous for our global well being (men and women).

Margolis and Fisher go on to show that women who have the necessary talent and desire are missing out on educational and economic opportunities in technical fields because of socialization and of constrictions in school—from preschool through the job search.

The stakes for the international economy are high and boil down to 1) a shortage of technical workers; 2) increased educational opportunities as colleges and universities prepare a technical workforce; 3) and high salaries in technical fields. What changes can educators and managers make so that girls/women have at least an equal share in the ensuing prosperity?

Perhaps your Activism Plan and Financial Analysis will address solutions.

Outcomes and Activities

As we study funding related to gender, you'll get a sense of how women are underpaid and of the struggles that lower finances bring about at home and at work. This activity will help you determine what resources are needed and how you can secure funding for your Activism Plan.

Add resources to your Database

As a result of the following activity, students will be able to identify funding sources.

1. Find a wide range of funding sources to support your Activism Plan.
2. Add at least 10 resources to the Database started in week 1.
   • Categorize them according to the type of funding: grant, venture capitol, scholarship, loan, etc.

Analyze the cost of implementing the Plan

As a result of the following activities, students will be able to 1) improve their level of comfort with financial planning and financial software; 2) Analyze their financial needs to complete the Activism Plan.

1. Analyze the cost of financing the Activism Plan by using a spreadsheet, database, and/or accounting software.
   • Budget for monthly and/or annual income and expenses.
   • Add notes to each line item about where funding might come from.
     • Link to appropriate resources you identified in the Database phase above.
   • Illustrate variations in the budget for at least 2 scenarios.
     • Note what happens when income and spending is adjusted in different categories.
2. Save illustrative material in appropriate formats, or link to files online (see Basic Skills page). Choose from these methods:
   • Provide links to live web pages (such as Google Spreadsheets or other online tools).
     • Provide any necessary login information.
   • Provide links to Acrobat (.pdf) files.
     • Add files to Wordpress using the Page's Upload function.
   • Provide screen shots saved as .gif or .jpg (they must be legible).
     • Add files to Wordpress using the Page's Upload function.
   • Absolutely no Excel files; they are not web files.
3. Report in your blog.
   • Add a Page in the blog called Financial Analysis.
     • Describe the process and tools you used to create the budget variations and store the funding resources.
     • Display the resources from your Database.
     • Display or link to the budget variations illustrations.

Scoring Criteria

1. At least 10 funding sources are added to the Database and displayed in a Financial Analysis report in the blog.
2. Financial data is collected in a spreadsheet or other accounting software to create a Budget for the expected monthly and annual income and expenses.
3. Each expense line item in the Budget documents which sources might provide funding.
4. Budget variation worksheets for different scenarios are illustrated and/or summarized in the Financial Analysis report using appropriate web formats.
5. Financial Analysis report describes the tools and process for collecting the data and creating the budget.

Examples

Delicious/GenderTechnology/financial

Pam Van Londen and students. 2007. Four-hundred plus resources hosted by Delicious, related to gender and technology. View the list as a cloud or alphabetically. The financial category hosts funding sources related to gender and technology.

Financial Analysis Report for Role Models ~ Interviews of Women in Technology

Pam Van Londen. 2007. Financial Analysis report summarizing tools, process, potential funding sources, and budget variations for the Activism Project.