Having a role model for underrepresented populations in the STEM fields is essential when it comes to teaching young children about the opportunities there are available for them, despite race, age, gender, or sexual preference. As a student who has had multiple internships, and unfortunately, multiple stereotypes and inappropriate comments directed towards me, I know how hard it can be to have confidence while being in the STEM field as a women. Conveying the message that confidence, drive, and being a woman can coexist, and how I wanted to convey this message, to 3rd graders at Lost Creek Elementary School was the hardest part of this project. I leaned more towards the underrepresented women in the STEM field, thinking of some of the most …show more content…
First, the acronym STEM is defined and related words can be found in a word search. To support this idea, a “design your own hard hat” page describes why an engineer wears this kind of hat and what the stickers on a hat means. Since many of the women in this book have won Nobel Prizes, the next page goes into depth of what the Nobel Prize is and how Alfred Nobel started this honorable award. Flipping forward, women such as Gertrude B. Elion, Grace Hopper, Henrietta Leavitt, Sallly Ride, Lise Meitner, Marie Curie, Jane Goodall, and Maria Tharp are introduced. Each women has a page summary of what her achievements were and how she affected the world, accompanied by an activity related to their work. Through these pages, students can learn about the different fields of STEM and the women in them and reinforce these lessons by doing the related activities on the other pages. This can be compared to how our class is structured, with readings handed out during the week and a film to reinforce the …show more content…
Our first reading, “Why Engineering, Science Gender Gap Persists,” inspired me to design a project that encouraged females to follow their dreams and be persistent in what they want in the future. Code: Debugging the Gender Gap influenced me to highlight different women, as did the film, allowing the 3rd grade students to learn a spectrum of women in different fields to accommodate different interests and experiences. With that being said, while presenting my project to the 3rd graders, there were clear indications of what each student liked. Some girls picked out coloring pages of Sally Ride and Marie Curie and told me information about the women. It was surprising that they’ve already been introduced to women in STEM since I didn’t know what STEM was until I reached about 5th grade or middle school. Another “big hit” that interested them, both girls and boys, was the “Be Your Own Engineer” activities. They were excited to make their own silly putty and wrote down the recipes to take home and created paper airplanes, decorated them, and flew them around our corner. Overall, the hands-on activities grabbed their interest the most and helped them learn more about each woman and her field versus the heavy text pages and straight information. In the end, I even had some students tell me about their own experiences in the STEM field and how they even wanted to be
Rossiter, Margaret W. (1982). Women Scientists in America: Struggles and Strategies to 1940. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Giving me opportunities I once lacked to realize. Similar to McIntosh, I notice how “women are disadvantaged” (31) and society doesn’t allow us to be seen as equals. Nevertheless, my gender has allowed me to become aware of the boundaries I must break, so I won’t be suppressed into a gender-specific career. I recognize the value of having a choice and the benefits of having the freedom to speak my mind. Additionally, my gender has taught me to find my voice and advocate for those who are unable to. The artifacts which my invisible backpack contains have enabled me to follow my dreams and become a teacher. For those reasons, I am sympathetic to those who have been neglected to recieve advantages I have been
In today’s world, diversity is the highest point and people of many different backgrounds, races, gender, or religion. This diversity can provide better performance in real world situations. In the article, “Diversity in STEM: What It Is and Why It Matters,” Kenneth Gibbs, Jr., an author who has a Ph.D. in immunology and trains the next generation of scientists, discusses why he believes diversity is important in the real world and how a lack of it may result in some issues. Gibbs, Jr. proposes how diversity influences and benefits the STEM fields and other fields by providing testimonial evidence. The author argues that diversity will enrich the STEM field and provide it with a great deal of problem solving. Gibbs, Jr. discusses the meaning
Today’s college students have the opportunity and freedom to choose their major and their career path. Many factors influence the decision of a college student’s career paths including background, general interests, personal strengths, time commitment, and job outlook. Although many important decisions are made in college, one of the most important is the choice of major and career track. Out of hundreds of majors the science and engineering fields are under-represented by women. Although the numbers of women in science technology, engineering, and mathematics, STEM, majors has been increasing in the past years, women still are in the minority in the STEM fields. In her study, Lona Whitmarsh concluded, “that career opportunities for women have widened,” but “not enough change has occurred to show significant differences between the overall population” (49). It is good that more women are entering these fields, but there are still not enough young women aspiring to fill the gaps. Further statistics show that female representation in engineering continues to be low, “in 2008 only 19 percent of bachelor’s degrees, 22.9 percent of masters, and 14.8 percent of PhDs in engineering were awarded to women” (Bystydzienski 2). Although there has been a general increase of women entering the fields of science and mathematics, overall the numbers are still low, showing that women struggle in pursuing a degree within these fields, and that many factors can lead to a female not choosing to begin or complete college in a STEM major. Women are in the minority of STEM fields.
To remove this gender difference the national curriculum, and programs such as the “Girls into science and technology” was introduced. The national curriculum helped girls under achievement. Today girls are now outperforming boys. However there is still a clear difference in subject choice by gender. Girls still tend to study and take up careers in the arts and social science where as males study science and technological subjects in higher education.
Farrell, Elizabeth F. “Engineering a Warmer Welcome for Female Students.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. February 22, 2002. students p 31.
Many women scientist upheld and defended their positions as learned, scientific individuals. Marie Meurdrac, a French scientist, in a foreword to a publication stated clearly that women’s and men’s minds, if thought in the same manner would hold no difference.(Doc 2) Similarly, Dorothea Erxleben understood and explained why men and women alike look down on her for studying science because they feel that it is an insult.(Doc 9) Her experiences as a female scientist led her to truly grasp why her persecutors acted as they did towards her although this document shows no signs that she thinks the same. Maria Sibylla Merian, a German entomologist, discussed some of her scientific practices that encompass her dedication and fascination with science.(Doc 5) Another example of this whole-hearted dedication comes from Marquis...
In brief, this article presents a view that women in engineering must enter the field as “conceptual men”. This means that in order to succeed in a male dominated field, women must essentially “become like men”. The article goes on to interview women in the engineering field. In particular, Ranson (2005) interviews women with and without children. This provides differing views of how women in engineering with and without children in engineering have approached their jobs.
Cole wants her readers to understand that everyone should have the right to learn this magnificent tool. K.C. Cole believes women did not have the same opportunities as men on the subject that they want to pursue in. She didn 't realize what an odd creature a woman interested in physics was until she saw a University’s conference, out of several hundred young students of physics and engineering in the room, less than a handful were women. This is especially true in the current society, where some occupation are considered women only, and some are men only. As said in her essay, “women are simply made to feel out of place in science. Her conclusion was supported by a Ford Foundation study by Lynn H. Fox on the problems of women in mathematics. When students were asked to choose among six reasons accounting for girls ' lack of interest in math, the girls rated this statement second - Men do not want girls in the mathematical occupations.” The author K.C. Cole uses historical allusion from another person to help support her idea of the exclusion of women in the science field. As we all can imagine, this did not only happen to K.C Cole. As she described in her essay, some of her friends and people she knows about also face challenges on this field, she remembers that, “A friend of mine remembers winning a Bronx Wide mathematics competition in the second grade. Her friends both boys and girls warned her that
When most people think of the Scientific Revolution, they think of scientists such as Galileo, Newton, Brahe, and Boyle. However, many people do not even know about the many women who played a vital role in the scientific advancements of this period. Even when these women were alive, most of society either ignored them or publicly disapproved their unladylike behavior. Because of this, these women were often forgotten from history, and very little is known about the majority of them. Although their names rarely appear in history books, the female scientists of the Scientific Revolution still impacted the world of science in several ways. In fact, all of the scientists listed above had a woman playing an influential role assisting them in their research. However, assisting men in their studies was not the only role open to women; several women performed experimentation and research on their own, or advancing science in some other way, even though the society of the time looked down upon and even resisted their studies.
Over the years there have been many changes in the work-place. Since the second World War there has been a steady increase of women on the workforce across all the different types of careers there are in the United States. Some careers have seen more of a rapid change than others, a few of the career fields that have not really had much growth in gender diversity have been Engineering and Technology. Both of these fields have always been more male dominate throughout the history of their existence. The problem is that both of these careers demand a constant stream of new innovative ideas to fuel advancements in different types of technology. Those advancements are also very important to the public’s day to day life, as both of these fields are all around us every day. There is no better way to get new ideas than to bring in someone who has a different thought process than you. That is why colleges and companies need to try harder to bring in women to these careers rather than overlook them. With that being said if someone is not right for the job, then they’re not right for the job, the problem is that many companies are choosing male engineers over female engineers. If the careers in these to field want to keep having great advancement, they’re going to need all the great minds that we can get, and stop turning so many away. There has been a lot of research done over this same subject over several years but the results do not seem to be changing, and again and again they always seem to so that men are favored over women when it comes to getting a job in the engineering and technology fields. The problem all boils down to the companies and colleges, both of which need to change so those who desire to excel in these fields, get ...
When presented with the idea of science and experiments, the first thing that likely comes to mind is statistics and factual evidence. While these aspects are a major part of science, the subject is not solely based on them. To reach a sound conclusion, scientists must make inferences whether they are vague or detailed. According to Stephen Jay Gould, however, even the most respected scientists sometimes forget this key fact. In Gould’s essay, “Women’s Brains,” he argues that societal biases can infiltrate scientific fields and consequently create a plethora of issues. Gould utilizes comparison and contrast, a hyperbole, and strong diction to strongly develop his argument for his audience, intellectuals within the world.
One of the main issues today 's students face is the act of being given gender roles and experiencing gender bias. To further explain, "Society treats boys and girls differently and expects them to develop different gender-role identities" (87). Throughout the gender section of the book, there are several examples given on how boys and girls are divided and given gender specific roles. For instance, girls are told that “Women aren’t good at math” and boys are told “Men don’t make good nurses” (87). These stereotypes affect the thinking of the students and later become obstacles when deciding careers. One way I would promote gender equality as a teacher is by completely eliminating the use of stereotypes in my classroom. This change will be accomplished by doing group activities and assignments in the classroom which avoid gender bias. It is important for students to have an equal opportunity to achieve their goals and follow their dreams. Sadly, when we expose our students to specific tasks and activities with respect to their gender, we limit their chances of having an optimistic approach towards their higher education and
This class has opened my mind to the incredible impact that STEM Education can have on our society. I do not work in an institution that has a STEM program. I work at a preschool; this makes my practice of any type of STEM program extremely limited. However, it is a private school. All my students come from households where one or both of their parents are professionals. These professionals want their children to be academically prepared for school. This means we must academically, mentally, and emotionally prepare them for their future schooling. I teach my students how to be a functioning participant in a classroom while exploring mathematics, science, art, history, literature and pre-writing. Puzzles, counting, shapes, measuring, etc. are on the daily agenda. Science is a huge part of our curriculum. Science in the
I read the Stem Diversity Awareness article as well as watched the Ted Talk where Jedidah Isler spoke about how students of color face racism as well as challenges that could impact their futures. I thought and agreed with everything Isler spoke about. I think it’s absolutely true that our society still excludes and distinguishes people of color. Isler mentioned how a man at their lunch table pushed all the dishes towards her and told her to basically make herself useful. It’s truly unfortunate that our society thinks things like this are appropriate and okay.