Response to Math and Science versus Femininity

Dr. Freeride over at ScienceBlogs offers an interesting post about teenage girls perceptions of science and math learning in opposition to social status. We have to change the identified costs and benefits. That is very hard to do with deferred benefits from education. By providing social situations that encourage science and math, we can decrease the cost - you can have your friends and learn. The smartest kids get these opportunities - math team, science club, academic summer camp, etc. - and many scientists point back to those experiences as formative. Now we need to give social learning opportunities to the average kids - every kid should have a science club once a week or get to play math games outside of school. This requires a change in attitude from everyone involved, but it can be done.

Girl Scouts and Motorola Outline Keys to Engaging Girls in STEM

There is new research from Girl Scouts of the USA and the Motorola Foundation about girls' engagement in STEM. The study outlines three keys to successful programs: 1) Make it real; 2) Make it relevant; 3) Make it possible. Click here for the full press release and links to more information.

More about Girls and STEM

In case you missed this story, a recent study finds that boys and girls are performing the same academically in math. The results of this research beg the question - why aren't women in STEM careers at the same rates as men? Significant recent research has found that parents, especially fathers, impact how girls view themselves and their career options and that interest in STEM careers is a better predictor of eventual career paths than math test scores. If you have not read Engagement, Capacity, and Continuity, this may be a good time to do that. The evidence continues to grow that schools alone cannot form the pathway to STEM careers.

Even More Girls and Tech

I spend my whole day looking at after-school programs that engage kids in science and technology, but even I am amazed at the media coverage that seems to be surrounding programs that make STEM fun for girls. I think this is my third post on the subject. Here is a story about a YWCA TechGYRLS program being implemented in Delaware.

Clearly there is no shortage of interest in these programs from the press and presumably from parents. It is also likely that these programs are effective - a national organization like YWCA usually builds in evaluation to ensure that. So, the big challenge becomes scale. How do we make sure that programs like these are available to all of the 6 million children in after-school and 15 million more who would attend after-school if it were available in their community? The answer includes more money, but it also requires many, many more people to staff the programs, and an infrastructure to prepare that staff and help them share the practices that make their programs great. In the meantime, I hope the media coverage continues and that I keep hearing about these great programs.

Science Club for Girls Expands

Coalition member Science Club for Girls was featured in the Boston Globe this week. This 13-year-old program reached over 600 girls last year in Cambridge, MA. Now it will reach girls in other Boston-area cities as well. The program serves girls in grades K-12, encouraging older girls to work with the younger ones.

Science Club for Girls is also part of the National Girls Collaborative, which connects the numerous programs that exist to support girls in STEM learning.

Link to Boston Globe article, Sept 23, 2007

More evidence for supporting girls in science and engineering

The National Science Foundation issued a "back-to-school" press release yesterday urging educators to be vigilant in keeping girls interested in science. It presents five "myths" about efforts to close the gender gap. Interestingly, when I have posted items about girls in the past, I have had some responses warning not to forget the boys. This NSF statement specifically addresses that - evidence shows that programs targeting girls work for boys as well.

There are also two new resources on this topic: New Formulas for America's Workforce 2 is a compilation of awards given by the Research on Gender in Science and Engineering program in the past 5 years. (Older awards are compiled in the prior volume.) New Tools for America's Workforce compiles products that have been developed by the NSF-funded projects that can be used by others.

Link to Press Release | MSNBC Story

More Summer Science for Girls

In case you thought toy recalls and stock market crashes were the only stories getting consistent attention this summer, here is yet another story about girls learning science and technology in summer camps. I have already posted on this twice: Aug 3 and July 26, not to mention numerous previous posts on programs that specifically address gender and equity.

Dads Influencing Daughters

Results of a longitudinal study recently released by the University of Michigan indicate that behavior of fathers has a significant impact on interest in math. Stereotypical attitudes (conscious or unconscious) lead to less supportive environments for girls, such as buying math and science toys - always more for boys than girls in the study. The impact of these attitudes is not surprising, but it is further hard evidence that helps explain the gap between academic performance and pursuit of science and math careers. Females and males perform about the same on tests of math and science ability, but men continue to outnumber women in almost every relevant field. As one of the report's authors notes, "It's as if women are saying, 'I can, but I don't want to.'"
Link to report
(Thanks to the Connect for Kids newsletter for the link.)