Mainely Middle
Journal of the Maine Association for Middle
Level Education
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2000/2001 |
Why are Girls/Young Women Still Absent from Science?Understanding the Gap
The purpose of this paper is to serve as a guide/resource describing the issues revolving around the lack of women in science. It includes information from research on a variety of projects and books, and includes quick facts and statistics obtained from a variety of sources concerned about promoting women in science. It also provides a brief summary to answer questions critical to this issue. In the late eighties and early to mid nineties, a great deal of research was conducted to determine why young girls and women are not entering the academic and professional world of science. Several factors were discovered as to why science is primarily a male field. Lack of confidence, poorer education, negative attitudes, unfair interactions by teachers, group dynamics (boy does project while girls tend to take notes) and the lack of role models present for young women in texts and in the media are part of the reason. It was also determined that girls tend to learn differently than boys and science education was not meeting their learning styles. Despite this research and the many changes that have been made in classrooms, we still have not seen a significant increase in the number of women working in the scientific community. Only 16% of scientists, 6% of engineers and 4% of computer scientists in the world are women. (Pearl et al., 1990) There are many reasons why these numbers are so low and part of that stems from the lack of confidence girls and young women have in science subjects. There have been several insights and research conducted to determine why girls and young women feel uncomfortable in the field of science. The lack of role models, the competitive male driven science community, and a girl's own lack of confidence all contribute to this.
Question 1: Are girls/young women provided with positive role models in science?The lack of role models portrayed in science contributes to the reason why young girls view science as a male field. "Each time a girl opens a book and reads a womenless history, she learns she is worthless" (Sadker, 1994). This is true in subject areas such as history, but is applicable in all fields, especially science. Sadker further discusses an incident in a classroom where the teacher listed a group of inventors on the blackboard that included eight men and their inventions. When a young girl asked, "didn't women invent anything?" the teacher continued on with the lesson plan and did not address the question (Sadker, 1994). Nothing was added about how difficult it was for women to obtain patents or to be acknowledged for their inventions, products or discoveries. Women were also shunned from the scientific community in the same manner and were not allowed to publish work or even obtain space in a science lab to conduct research. This lack of attention to women who were involved in the scientific community portrays science as a male field. Girls are exposed to almost three times as many boy-centered stories as girl centered stories. Boys tend to be portrayed as clever, brave, creative and resourceful, while girls are depicted as kind, dependent and docile. Girls read six times as many biographies of males as of females. (Pipher, 1994) The lack of commitment to supporting girls or women in science or in any area of study causes girls to feel as if they don't belong. This feeling causes girls to be less confident about their abilities in certain subject areas.
Question 2: At what age is it most crucial for teachers, parents and others to promote confidence in your girls for future success in science?In elementary school, young girls are less confident of their abilities in science and math and are less interested in careers in science and engineering than are young boys. This is true in spite of similar exposure to courses and similar achievement. (National Science Foundation, 1994) The middle level years are when girls most need support both emotionally and academically in the field of science. Confidence levels of young girls drop drastically at this age. "Girls' confidence levels started dropping in the sixth grade and continued to drop relative to boys until the twelve grade" (Hart & Padilla, 1985). Much of this stems from structure of the classroom and how the teacher interacts with his/her students. Junior high school is when girls begin to fade academically. Partly this comes from the very structure of the schools, which tend to be large and impersonal. Girls, who tend to do better in relationship-based, cooperative learning situations, get lost academically in these settings. (Pipher, 1994) In subject areas such as math and science where very little cooperation is required or promoted, a young girl can become indifferent about learning the material. Another important component of science is math. Using numbers, measuring, formulating models, making graphs, computing and using mathematical equations are important skills needed to work in science. Girls have trouble with math because math requires exactly the qualities that many junior-high girls lack &endash; confidence, trust in one's own judgement and the ability to tolerate frustration without becoming overwhelmed. (Pipher, 1994) Again, intervention in girls' confidence needs to be addressed at a young age so they may feel successful in this subject area. If students are uncomfortable at such a young age with important subject matters such as math, they will remain uncomfortable throughout their lives. "Thirty-four percent of high school aged girls reported being advised by a faculty member not to take senior math" (National Science Foundation, 1994). This neglect causes math classes to be gender biased. If girls are advised not to take math, those few that choose to take the class will be outnumbered by their male classmates. Even in classes that are evenly distributed with males and females, gender-bias can be viewed. If a teacher is gender-biased, a girl can also be overlooked in a classroom despite her academic abilities. In a study done at Irving Junior high school "research shows that compared to boys, girls receive less attention in class, and are more reluctant to pursue math and science classes" (Kaplan and Aroson, 1994). Study after study show that "male students receive more teacher attention than females. Boys tend to raise their hands more quickly and to be more demanding of teacher's attention. This creates a two-tiered classroom one in which girls play a secondary role. This is especially true in advanced math and science classes, where boys greatly outnumber girls" (Kaplan and Aroson, 1994). With complex subject matter such as science, which requires questioning, exploring, discovering and problem solving, girls are already set back by the very structure of the classroom. Girls often get "anxious, which interferes with problem solving and so they fail and are even more anxious and prone to self-doubt the next time around" (Pipher, 1994). Girls are also less likely to guess or take risks, which removes the possibility of discovery and answers that sometimes disprove or prove a theory. These skills are the very nature of science and without them women will not feel competent in the scientific community.
Question 3: Do stereotypes play a negative role in promoting girls/young women in science?Stereotypes that label science and math as male may also affect performance. (Reyes and Padilla, 1985) Stereotypes not only stem from the scientific community, media and teachers, but parents also play an important role in this perception. Parents also discriminate against daughters. A majority of parents believe that their sons are better in mechanics and math than their daughters, and they fail to give their daughters the most elementary training in the use of tools to build or repair mechanical objects. (Vetter, 1992) In science, instruments, tools, mechanical equipment and technology are often used to carry out scientific experiments. Girls need to be comfortable operating and repairing such equipment on the field and in the lab. The basic skills for this can be gained right at home by teaching girls the use of tools, drills, lawn mowers, tractors and other standard equipment. Parents also need to promote their child's interest in science. "Sixteen percent fewer girls than boys reported ever talking to their parents about science and technology" (National Science Foundation, 1994). Another way to help young girls in this field is for parents to show an interest in what they are learning and to talk with and help them develop their studies.
Question 4: How can schools/classrooms provide a female-friendly science curriculum?The nature of how our science courses are taught also excludes women from the scientific community. Girls and young women find science classes "dry and lifeless." Females tend to be more interested in "people than things" (Alper, 1993). Girls tend to be more social and like to work collaboratively. Often science is viewed as competitive and non-cooperative also lacking "real-world uses, and an image of scientists as obsessed with science to the exclusion of other human endeavors" (Alper, 1993). These outdated images cause girls and women to seek other avenues despite their abilities in these fields. There are several ways science can be taught in a more female friendly manner. Suggestions include: 1) try teaching a class in which all the names or pronouns are feminine "For girls who have never know or read much about women in math or science fields, being able to meet and talk to such a person can boost their own hopes for themselves" (Kaplan & Aronson, 1994). Schools should provide women in science days, invite women science experts into the classroom and/or allow their students to attend special activities or events that revolve around women in science. More importantly, these days should not be addressed as the only days or the "special" days for introducing women in sciences. If these activities were done in classrooms naturally, girls would benefit everyday.
Question 5: Do girls/young women see themselves as capable/able to pursue a career in science?Currently most young girls/women do not view themselves as capable of being scientists. Our duty as educators is to provide a safe-learning environment that promotes science as an opportunity for everyone. "In the last year of high school, young men are more than three times as likely as young women to expect to pursue a career in science, math or engineering" (National Science Foundation, 1994). It is time this gap was reduced.
BibliographyAlper, J. (1993). The pipeline is leaking women all the way along. Science, 260, 409-411.
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