In science, we must be interested in things, not in person." - Marie Curie
I remember that all my science teachers who I had from elementary school to high school were men. Though I did not wonder anything about my male teachers at that time, now I feel so strange about why there were no female science teachers in my schools as I look back on my school years. In my second year of the middle school, in addition, all students could concentrate on either any scientific majors or English. The first day of my science class, I noticed that 90% of students who took the class were boys. I was wondering where the other girls went. I liked science and wanted to study it more. However, I started feeling uncomfortable in the class. I felt that I was isolated from the boys' dominating class and it was uncomfortable for me. I could not fit myself into the class at last and I quit taking the class.
When I saw this video, I was sad because the man in the video took away the girl's curiosity about nature. "Honey, you don't wanna mess with that. Put them down." In the video, when the man said this to the little girl who was picking up a starfish, her face looked confused. "Why?" It is true that when girls start showing their interests in science, people around them automatically try to channel their attention away from it. Although there are physical differences between men and women by nature, they acquire the perception of gender differences as they grow up. Scientists show that boys and girls are raised differently from an early age by their parents. The difference of gender is set in children's minds as they learned from the world around them. In the video, how would it change if the girl were a boy? Girls are often separated from the scientific fields. Science is considered as the men's field because people think that women are not equally smart enough as much as men in science. A physical distinction among a gender cannot be changed, but it does not mean that women cannot excel in the fields of science. The stereotype is a misleading belief and there is no reason why more women shouldn't be in the scientific fields.
According to Verizon, “66% of 4th grade girls say they like science and math. But only 18% of all college engineering majors are female.” In school, most students who major in science, math and technology are boys. No matter how much girls like these majors, many of them try not to go further and stop paying attention to the scientific fields. Even school counselors try to draw girls attention away from science. Why? It is risky for females.
It is obvious that the social progress of women has been stimulated remarkably in recent years, and a lot of women succeed in different kinds of areas, but not in the scientific fields yet. The lack of women has been a deep rooted issue in technology. It is a fact that 75% of workers are men in technology according to the article, Technology's man Problem. Science, math and technology... all this stuff are still considered the fields for men. Women are easily isolated from the fields as if they are not good at dealing with science by nature. It brings less women to pursue scientific jobs and makes it harder for them to succeed in these fields. These stereotypes created a men's world in technology.
It is open for women to get a job in the scientific field, but they do not try to take the opportunity. If they do, there are drawbacks. In the article, Elissa Shevinsky who worked at Glimpse went through sexism. She could not enjoy working in the tech men's world anymore, and she felt that sexism in the scientific fields would never end. She says in the article, "I thought that we didn't need more women in tech. I was wrong." Not only her but also almost all women in tech feel that they are marginalized in these men's dominated fields. Miller, the author of the article, says, "A culprit, many people in the field say, is a sexiest, alpha-male culture that can make women and other people who don't fit the mold feel unwelcome, demeaned or even endangered." There are women workers who suffer from harsh treatment such as sexual harassment and rape just because they are women in the tech world. In the scientific worlds, women should take many risks for it just because of the gender differences.
Miller says, "Tech executives often fault schools, parents or society in general for failing to encourage girls to pursue computer science." This would be true, but now schools are changing the reality of less women in scientific majors. One college coped with the problem and found the solution; according to How one college went from 10% female computer-science majors to 40%. In 2006, there were only 10% of women who majored in computer science at Harvey Mudd College in California. What they did first was to change the title of the course, "Introduction to programming in Java" into "Creative approaches to problem solving in science and engineering using Python" so that it can be more familiar to students. The second step was taking female students to a technology conference, which praises women in technology, so that female students can picture themselves in the field. The other step was to give them more opportunities, such as a summer research program to cultivate their desire to learn their majors. As a result, the number of women whose major is computer science has increased from 10% to 40%. This can be applied for other schools. If they do so, more and more girls can take a chance to go through scientific majors, and they can know that such sexism does not exist in the scientific fields at all. That would be the great beginning for women to turn their eyes towards the scientific fields.
My friend, who is studying Environmental Science in San Jose State University, told me that she saw only a few female students in the scientific major. In her high school and university, she said that the ratio of males and females who majored in science was one to ten at best. She loved science and her teacher took care of few females students, so she still has been studying her major since then. She said, "I was one of the few female students who took science with many boys, but I've never felt that there was any difference between other boys and myself in my science class. My parents always encouraged me to study hard, and honestly, I've never been defeated by boys in my class. I was always at the top of my class." I could not feel the same as she did in her science class. There was nobody to encourage me to continue to study science. My class gave me such a negative impression but her experience is totally different. She had somebody to back her up and that helped her to visualize a positive impression in the scientific fields.
My friend, who is studying Environmental Science in San Jose State University, told me that she saw only a few female students in the scientific major. In her high school and university, she said that the ratio of males and females who majored in science was one to ten at best. She loved science and her teacher took care of few females students, so she still has been studying her major since then. She said, "I was one of the few female students who took science with many boys, but I've never felt that there was any difference between other boys and myself in my science class. My parents always encouraged me to study hard, and honestly, I've never been defeated by boys in my class. I was always at the top of my class." I could not feel the same as she did in her science class. There was nobody to encourage me to continue to study science. My class gave me such a negative impression but her experience is totally different. She had somebody to back her up and that helped her to visualize a positive impression in the scientific fields.
Links and Resources
Technology's Man Problem:
How one college went from 10% female comuputer-science majors to 40%:
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