All Points of Progress
Progress WatchHollywood finally gets the message 鈥� diversity is good for businessWhile women and people of color are still underrepresented in Hollywood 鈥� both on screen and behind the camera 鈥� diversity in the film industry hit record highs in 2018 as tools like inclusion riders gain popularity.
Progress WatchIn an age of authoritarianism, the world sees glimmers of hopeGlobally, threats to democracy are acting in full force. But聽pushback against autocracy is also gaining strength and momentum. A look at some of those movements.
Progress WatchWhen transfer students knock, more colleges are opening the doorMore community college students are making their way to four-year universities 鈥� and helping schools meet enrollment and diversity goals. What might that mean for college affordability?
Progress WatchMore than just grass: US prairies make a comebackGrasslands have long been underappreciated ecosystems. Yet the past three decades have seen progress in restoring them, giving a boost to numerous rare plants and animals.
Progress WatchThe global suicide rate has seen a net decline. What caused it?What can help people see a way out of their despair? A look at some of the methods that have successfully prevented people from harming themselves.
Progress WatchIn Pakistan, sanitation and water access improves quality of lifeSimple tasks can become difficult without access to clean water or a place to use the bathroom, as is the case for many of the poorest people 鈥� and especially women 鈥� in Pakistan. But the construction of thousands of toilet and water facilities is turning that situation around.
Progress WatchFinding consensus on US gun controlStudies show that there is bipartisan agreement on some parts of a divisive issue. What's the motivating factor?
Progress WatchIn the clouds, a silver lining: The ozone layer is on track to fully healWhile projections of climate change consequences are dire, the international community has shown it can cooperate to achieve results on ecological issues, as seen in the reduction of the hole in the ozone layer.
Progress WatchWhat鈥檚 made rates of degree attainment for immigrant students spike?Only 30 years ago, about 16聽percent of immigrants had earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree. Today, that number has nearly doubled, and caught up with degree attainment rates for US-born residents as well. Holistic support programs are one factor.
Progress WatchWhy more states are giving juvenile offenders a second chanceMore attention is being given to the idea that young offenders can still make radical changes to their mind-set. As a result, measures aimed at rehabilitating juvenile prisoners instead of punishing them are spreading across the United States.
Progress WatchWhat's giving gender parity a leg up at US corporationsCompanies in the United States have struggled to reach gender quotas in leadership positions, especially as compared to their European counterparts. But new laws and cultural shifts are beginning to change that situation.
Progress WatchMore girls, African-Americans enroll in AP computer science. Why that matters.Many computer science professions are known for being disproportionately white and male. But the Advanced Placement computer science tests have seen a recent spike in the number of female and minority students who take them, forecasting a more diverse future.
Progress WatchIn an Indiana river cleanup, businesses and environmentalists cooperateIndustry and environmental interests are often opposed. But in Indiana, a river cleanup requiring both sides to negotiate with each other offers an example for conservation partnerships everywhere.
Progress WatchAfter #MeToo, state legislatures make changesAcross the nation, lawmakers pledged to take legislative action on sexual harassment. We鈥檝e tracked how they followed through in past months.
Progress WatchUS businesses begin to increase services for deaf people
Progress WatchStopping US teens from smoking, one town at a timeActivists have found the 鈥渟ecret sauce鈥� to help cut down on the number of young smokers: They鈥檙e passing Tobacco 21 laws across the nation, but instead of working at the national level, they鈥檙e focusing on small towns and cities.
Progress WatchBeachcombers worldwide haul 20 million pounds of trash in one dayWith many hands on the task, the聽International Coastal Cleanup shows how communities working together can highlight a problem and help solve it. Legislation is starting to have an impact, too. 聽聽
Progress WatchMillennials are driving a re-sale clothing boomFor a cash-strapped generation that also cares about sustainability issues, taboos are disappearing around previously owned items.聽Online retailers and peer-to-peer marketplace apps are helping to drive a burgeoning market expected to double in size by 2022.
Progress Watch'Deck parks' restore community ties in neighborhoods divided by highwaysAcross the United States, some cities are聽building parks above the roadways in an effort聽to reconnect communities, often low-income neighborhoods, that had been splintered decades ago when new freeways were rammed through in the name of progress.
Progress WatchIn Rwanda, agricultural reforms boost food security and slash povertyIn the nearly 25 years following its genocide, the East African nation has emerged as a leader in the Green Revolution that is lifting millions of people out of poverty by聽providing聽farmers with resources and training and allowing women to inherit land.