Astronomy
LiveScience debunks the top 5 myths about girls, math, and science:
The days of sexist science teachers and Barbies chirping that "math class is tough!" are over, according to pop culture, but a government program aimed at bringing more women and girls into science, technology, engineering and math fields suggests otherwise.
Below are five myths about girls and science that still endure, according to the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Research on Gender in Science and Engineering (GSE) program:
Myth 1: From the time they start school, most girls are less interested in science than boys are.
Reality: In elementary school about as many girls as boys have positive attitudes toward science. A recent study of fourth graders showed that 66 percent of girls and 68 percent of boys reported liking science. But something else starts happening in elementary school. By second grade, when students (both boys and girls) are asked to draw a scientist, most portray a white male in a lab coat. Any woman scientist they draw looks severe and not very happy. The persistence of the stereotypes start to turn girls off, and by eighth grade, boys are twice as interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) careers as girls are. The female attrition continues throughout high school, college and even the work force. Women with STEM higher education degrees are twice as likely to leave a scientific or engineering job as men with comparable STEM degrees.
To read more:
http://www.livescience.com/7349-top-5-myths-girls-math-science.html
From: Joan Schmelz [jschmelz_at_memphis.edu]
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Astronomy
Top 5 Myths About Girls, Math, and Science
LiveScience debunks the top 5 myths about girls, math, and science:
The days of sexist science teachers and Barbies chirping that "math class is tough!" are over, according to pop culture, but a government program aimed at bringing more women and girls into science, technology, engineering and math fields suggests otherwise.
Below are five myths about girls and science that still endure, according to the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Research on Gender in Science and Engineering (GSE) program:
Myth 1: From the time they start school, most girls are less interested in science than boys are.
Reality: In elementary school about as many girls as boys have positive attitudes toward science. A recent study of fourth graders showed that 66 percent of girls and 68 percent of boys reported liking science. But something else starts happening in elementary school. By second grade, when students (both boys and girls) are asked to draw a scientist, most portray a white male in a lab coat. Any woman scientist they draw looks severe and not very happy. The persistence of the stereotypes start to turn girls off, and by eighth grade, boys are twice as interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) careers as girls are. The female attrition continues throughout high school, college and even the work force. Women with STEM higher education degrees are twice as likely to leave a scientific or engineering job as men with comparable STEM degrees.
To read more:
http://www.livescience.com/7349-top-5-myths-girls-math-science.html
From: Joan Schmelz [jschmelz_at_memphis.edu]
- Why So Few? Spatial Skills
The 2010 report entitled, Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, by the American Association of University Women (AAUW), investigates the area of spatial skills learning. One of the largest and most persistent gender gaps...
- Boys Need Outreach, Too
Lately, I've been finding myself doing a lot of public outreach directed towards boys. This is mostly because I'm the mother of two boys, and both are heavily involved with Boy Scouts, and whenever they work on a badge related to science, they...
- Evaluating How We Present Role Models In Stem
Posted by L. Trouille Univ. of Michigan social psychologists Diana Betz and Denise Sekaquaptewa recently published a thought-provoking article that I thought might be of interest to our readers -- "My Fair Physicist? Feminine Math and Science Role Models...
- Aaswomen For September 9, 2011
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of September 9, 2011 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, and Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. Invitation to Subscribe to the AASWOMEN Newsletter2. Berkeley Women in Science and Engineering: Our...
- How To Encourage More Girls To Enter Science?
Women earn the majority of college degrees in the U.S. and, since 2009, the majority of doctorates. This is not the case in astronomy or physics. Why are we different? The American Institute of Physics has studied the enrollments of girls and boys in...