After reading abstracts from several articles related to the topic about why women are less likely to involve themselves in science-related careers, I learned that studies have shown that women engage further in content and learning when the learning connects to their personal lives and when women have ample opportunity to reflect and communicate with others.
As I reflect on a few personal experiences, I make connections to the ideas mentioned in the articles. Just the other day I was studying for a math test—five women were sitting around a table studying and thinking aloud with one another. The only male student in the class was by himself reading and reviewing the textbook and class notes. The example does not prove anything, but I find the example an interesting reflection.
Additionally, I have spent some time working with many non-profit and social service organizations. In my experiences working with the two aforementioned fields, I noticed a higher percentage of females working in the fields. The two fields encourage and require much verbal communication as well as stories about personal lives.
Although I think the reasons addressed in the articles previously mentioned and cited above are justified, I additionally believe societal issues exist that discourage women from entering the field of science. When research the topic a little further, I found a few places where sexism and the nature of science workplaces was addressed in engineering fields and other “science and technology careers.” I do realize the ideas come from organizations made for women, but the ideas still need to be considered.
2) What can you do in your classroom to help girls make more informed choices about science careers?
- Teach students in a way that represents how real science works. For example, make sure students know: scientists work together; imagination and creativity are involved in asking questions, organizing data, analyzing data, making observations, communicating ideas; our past experiences and background knowledge influence observations and inferences.
- Encourage students to learn about and research female scientists
- Provide opportunities for students to actually interact with female scientists.
- Provide opportunities for students to participate in science with female scientists in the field.
3) Some questions I’m pondering related to the topic/research.
- Has the research that has been done classify data based on actual sex differences or on how people identify themselves (gender)?
- Has much research been done with elementary-aged students related to the above topic? Seems as though most of the studies have been done with adolescents and secondary-aged students.
