As I sit and recall the many classes that I have taken in my short student career there are many that stand out. They could stand out to me because the teacher was always very attentive, or because I would spend endless nights attempting to master the subject. Although, there is one class that stands out in my memories above the rest. In this class I had a great teacher and did spend many hours trying to understand the formulas, but those are definitely not the reasons why. It was my Physics 11 class.
The first day of class started like any other. I showed up early to make sure I got to sit near the front and to not make a late entrance; those are always so awkward. I attempted to look casual while walking towards my desk, in an attempt to hide my first-day jitters. Then I sat down as gracefully as I could, hoping not bring too much attention to myself even though there weren’t many other students there yet. Once seated I began watching the students file in one by one. Many of the students had nervous faces, or happy ones because they recognized a friend from another class. But, what I slowly began to notice as the time got closer to the start of class was that many of new classmates had one thing in common. They were all guys. Two other girls and I made up the female portion. For some odd instinctual reason, this male dominated presence in the classroom shook me to my core; they’re over population of the classroom rattled my confidence. I couldn’t help, but try to listen in on their conversations. I wondered did they know something I didn’t? Were mainly guys taking this class because physics is a “guy-thing” and the other girls and I were here by mistake? Their overwhelming numbers not only made me feel out of place, but by ...
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Corporate Planning and Policy Directorate Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. “Women in Science and Engineering in Canada” November 2010. 3,9,11. Web. April 4 2014.
Curan, Peggy. “Male-vs.-Female: Final Edition” Proquest. Infomart, a division of Postmedia Network Inc, October 30 2004. G1. Web. April 4, 2014.
Derworiz, Collette. “Girls Top in Math, Science: Final Edition” Proquest. Infomart, a division of Postmedia Network Inc, May 6 2000. A1. Web. April 4 2014.
Owens, Anne Marie. “No girls in Science? Blame it on Mother: National Post” Proquest. Infomart, a division of Postmedia Network Inc, May 30 2003. A3. Web. April 4, 2014.
Thom, Mary. “Girls in Science and Technology: What’s new, what’s next?” Ebsco Host. Education Digest. Vol. 67, Issue 5. Prakken Publications, January 2002. 17. Web. April 4 2014.
In the 17th and 18th centuries women in science emerged that regarded themselves correct in doing so. Also there were those who announced their opinions to the world that women should not practice science and some who believed the women can and should practice science.
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.
Fetterley,Judith. "Women Beware Science: The Birth-Mark." Frank, Ed. Albert J. von. Critical Essays on Hawthorne 's Short Stories. Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1991. 164-173.
Society itself teaches us how our mindset is supposed to be. Children are being taught a certain idea at an early age. If children are taught at an early age about a certain idea, as adults, they will believe that the idea is true. In her article Reflections on Gender and Science, Evelyn Keller states that it was common to hear teachers, scientist, and parents say that women cannot and should not be a scientist (77). According to this idea, women lacked the strength, rigor, and clarity of mind that one needs to be a scientist. Only men had those characteristics, which is why science should be for men. If a child is taught that idea at a young age, he or she grows up believing it’s true. The people that interact with the children the most are the ones that have
Throughout kindergarten to fifth grade I really do not have many memories of science in class. This may be from me simply not remembering, but I believe it is due to the incredible integration of my elementary school. There were no certain blocks of time dedicated to certain subject, all the subjects fed off each other and were more a cohesive gaining of knowledge of all subjects rather than focusing on one. In my current schooling I have learned how hard it can be to integrate all the subjects together, but my elementary school did it seamlessly which is a goal I will constantly be striving for.
The path of a young scientist to the career of their choice is driven by many factors. Preferences strongly influence a person’s decision to enter a certain field, but so does ability. In addition, gender is a major factor that can be attributed to a young person’s decision for entering a scientific career. In a way, gender plays two roles. It can influence career choice from the beginning, shaping preferences, and well as having an influence on “making it” into a specific field. In scientific fields, it is not uncommon for job desirability to increase when a particular career is viewed as “men’s work” versus “women’s work”.
The statistics can be somewhat startling, while women receive 56% of BA degrees in the United States, they receive only 37% of the Science, Mathematics, and Engineering (SME) bachelor degrees (Chang, 1). As scary as the statistics on women are, they only point to an even bigger problem among all SME majors. According to one study, there is a 40% decline in the number of undergraduate science majors between the first and senior year of college (Didon, 336). Another study found that about 50% of the students who enter college in SME majors will change their major in two years (Change, 1). In a study of Hispanic American women who declared physical science or mathematics majors, 50% drop out within the first grading period (Ortiz, 1). The lack of SME majors has often been blamed on America’s high schools or even elementary schools, with university professors claiming students are not encouraged to consider science careers or are unprepared by their high school teachers. The statistics tell another story, no matter which specific numbers you consider, 50% in two years or 40% in their college careers, students are getting turned off from SME careers while in college, not high school. And the problem isn’t just with women; men are fleeing the sciences as well.
Women have come a long way in science and engineering, even so the ratio of men to women in STEM fields in high. Some of this can be attributed to the social norm of how math and science is not for girls. Finding jobs in STEM majors can be difficult for women, which may lead to some disinterest in women to pursue that career.
Marie Curie is widely regarded as a talented scientist whose work has changed the world. She is best known for her discovery of radium and polonium and her work with radioactivity. Curie encountered times of adversity in her career due to prejudice against women in her field, but she met her challenges and overcame them. Marie Curie exceeded the barriers put on women in her time to become one of the world’s most famous scientists and used her knowledge to the benefit of humanity.
In early American history, society believed that women did not have a place in education and high-level learning. They were told not to bother their brains with such advanced thinking. Middle and upper class women learned to read and write, but their education ended there. A woman’s place was said to be in the home, cooking, sewing, and taking care of the children. In the case of upper class women, their “to-do” list was cut even shorter with the servants present to do the work.
The most satisfying class I have taken is AP Psychology. For a major part in my life, I always knew that I was destined to participate in a career that involved the understanding of the mind. Since then, I have been fascinated with psychology, taking time out to watch ted talks about new theories or spending time looking for books and articles about the human mind. When I was aware that I could take AP Psychology during high school, I took the class with no hesitation. Even though I am more than fascinated with psychology, the reason why AP Psychology has been a satisfying class all stands on the teacher. My AP Psychology teacher used real life applications with all of the information presented in the textbook. She structured the class in such
If I wasn’t already feeling nervous about going to college, this turn of events made it so much worse. Growing up I went to an all-girls school from the age of three to seventeen. Starting a new school already was already nerve-wracking, but changing from my graduating class of 123 into an undergraduate population of over 25,000 seemed insurmountable. One lesson that I’ve learned throughout the past few weeks is that one of the most important skills in life is to realize what makes you happy and have the courage to act on it. When I started school this past semester it didn’t take me long to figure out I was in the wrong place. The campus was beautiful and my classes were interesting, but I still didn’t feel like I was in the place I needed to be. However, since the school year started and as the semester continues, I am trying to make the most of my time here at the University of Arkansas and I keep trying to do what I enjoy. Now I don’t mean happiness in the material sense that I need to have objects, instead I mean that I do not want to live my life regretting opportunities I have missed out on. Entering into college, there are thousands of new opportunities for me to partake in and I have been taking full advantage of and continue to take full advantage of these
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.
For many years, we’ve read newspaper articles and books all on women not being equal to their partners and being subjected as second-class minority. “All across Europe from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries these women found fascination in the natural science”. After reading “Women and Science,1988” I was would say it was interesting to read because I finally get to read about women and them enjoying what they like to and, on the other hand doing what men do. Coming up with their own knowledge observing many different things. I found that there was a lot of strength and courage that had to do with
On the first day of my junior year I had physics as my first period to my surprise. My teacher, Mr. Torres, seemed like a very likable person but quickly cut to the chase of how challenging the class was going to be and explained how it was not for everyone. I became nervous, but I told myself that I could take on a challenge, I just had to work extra hard that year. I can still remember Mr. Torres giving the pre-assessment math test to weed out the weak because physics would be impossible if math was not your best friend. Math is definitely not my strongest subject and my teacher advised me to drop the class because I would struggle a lot to keep a good grade. However, I confidently told him that I refused to drop the class because I am focused and I would do whatever it took to manage an A in that class. He replied, “Okay, sure kid we will see about that.”