Check out this great article by Natalie Angier from the NY Times:
Mystery of the
Missing Women in Science
Mystery of the
Missing Women in Science
Serge Bloch
Peter Ostrander, the tireless coordinator and cheerleader for a renowned science and mathematics magnet program at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md., was not satisfied. Over the past few years, the pool of applicants had included nearly as many girls as boys, and the acceptance rate — based largely on test scores and grades — had followed suit.
Yet when it came to which of the invitees ended up choosing Blair’s magnet
option over other offerings in the area, the scales tilted male. In 2012, for
example, 80 percent of the eligible boys said yes, but only 70 percent of the
girls. In 2010, the figures had been 93 percent and 56 percent.
Convinced
the program could do better at pitching its product to girls, Mr. Ostrander
recruited teams of upper-class girls last spring to call their hesitant young
counterparts. Extol the wonders of the program, he said. Dispel the tired geek
myths.
“The
stereotype is out there that the magnet is filled with nerdy people,” he said.
“Whatever that means.”
The
upper-class students took to the phone banks with verve. (Full disclosure: my
daughter was one of them.) They talked of fun, extracurriculars and sisterhood.
They secured many yes votes and earned pizza and sandwiches — but still, fewer
qualified girls than boys are entering the magnet this fall.
As a result,
the demanding, gratifying, even thrilling four-year immersion in physics,
chemistry, biology, calculus, computer science, astronomy, entomology, the
proper use of power tools — and yes, the humanities and social sciences —
remains almost two-thirds male.
Montgomery
Blair’s experience is by no means unique. Even as girls prove their prowess in
science and math, their ambivalence lingers when it comes to fields formerly
painted boy blue.
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