This is in response to Effie's post: Word Map, Technology, and Gender post on Mon., April 6, 2009. The specific question I am addressing is: "So far, not only have they failed to get more females into the sciences, but males are becoming less interested in going into STEM courses. Where are our scientists and engineers of the future going to come from?"
Personally, I was always interested in the sciences - in high school, I took all of the classes with an exception of Human Biology. Just didnt' want to disect things anymore. But I was always interested in English and Math, and I remember an instructor in high school saying that people usually are at different poles with English and Math - you either like English and hate Math; or, you like Math and hate English. I was always in the middle.. Not sure why. But then again, I'm not sure where that instructor got that information either.
I guess I'm saying that I don't think it's a gender issue with STEM areas; rather, the change in individuals doing what they want to do for a career based on what they love to do. Also, perhaps our nation's persistence with teaching these subjects has also waned.
I have noticed in ECC and the HelpDesk, among other places, that most of the people doing the computer classes and engineering classes are from overseas - Korea, Japan, China, India, Nepal, etc. I know that these countries push math and science harder than we have in the U.S., and these individuals also want to study abroad. So, why not let them get their degree here and perhaps this will intrigue them into staying in the U.S.?
TORTA DI MELE E MASCARPONE
5 years ago
Jojo,
ReplyDeleteI want to comment on this post, but in order to say what I would like with any kind of knowledge I need to hunt up some of the research I did for my Sociolinguistics paper. I do remember reading that the STEM issue is a gender problem. However, it might not be an "innate" gender issue. Like you, many girls start out liking math, but they learn to dislike it. Sometime, when I have time, I'll search down that paper and will write a better response.
Thanks for reading my Blog and commenting on it.
Effie,
ReplyDeleteNo problem! I didn't mean to discount your post! I just wanted to comment on something that you brought up but I also had some personal story to share. I would still be interested in your Socio paper! :)
They have now added Science to the list of testing requirements for the state. I haven't gotten the impression that Science teaching has waned at all. I actually think the opposite -- that science teaching has increased. I also notice more and more students enjoying science in the seventh grade. I have two thoughts on this. Three of the four science teachers in our school are female. I think this encourages female students and I also think Science is, by nature, a hands-on class. It is easy to do labs and use computers and technology. It also lends itself to working in groups- for labs and such. I think these are things that appeal to students.
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