"The fact that social attitudes become fixed during the junior high and early high school years clearly suggests that early efforts to influence young women's attitudes about future careers, personal abilities, and professional role models should occur during the early teen years. Attitude changes are required at this time to ensure that a curricular track is chosen which provides an adequate academic background for careers in math, science, or engineering."I conversed with Rachelle Heller through Internet e-mail, and I received her materials from her work at George Washington University about encouraging minority girls in science and mathematics. This chapter is designed to provide a resource that will let parents and teachers use the Internet to achieve some of these type of results, by exposing girls to mentors, information on potential careers, and a "peer group" of like minds through the use of the Internet.-- Rachelle S. Heller, Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at George Washington University and C. Dianne Martin, Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, "Bringing Young Minority Women to the Threshold of Science", NSF Report.
Girls in the early teen years are very concerned about their social life and about what peers think about them. One way to encourage girls at this age is to provide them with a peer group that can help form a positive self-image and a social environment that encourages scientific exploration and learning to use computer technology.
Computer camps and science programs can provide the social environment that girls need along with a peer group that sees being intelligent and showing it as positive traits rather than negative ones. Rachelle S. Heller and C. Dianne Martin have also studied the components that go into creating an effective program of this type for girls, and created a list of characteristics that go into developing a good program for girls.
Sidebar: Characteristics of Good Science Programs
Heller and Martin's program, "Bringing Young Minority Women to the Threshold of Science", was conducted at George Washington University and funded by the National Science Foundation. The program ran from 1989 through 1993, and offered many insights into the elements that make a program of this type successful.
These elements included mentoring and role modeling from women who had built succesful careers in science, opportunities for girls to learn about the university and live in a university setting for several days, a peer network of other girls interested in mathematics and science, and training in computer usage to enhance the girls' skill and confidence. Above all, the program provided a fun atmosphere combined with a high expectation of learning and success.
The rest of this chapter describes some great programs that are available for girls. But even if a program like this isn't available in your area, girls can still be involved in a "virtual girl's camp" or group that gives her a chance to relate to her peers in a positive social setting that allows her to relax and be herself. The Internet can be used as a "meeting place" for mentoring or peer groups. For instance, there is a terrific Usenet newsgroup called "women-in-bio" that has been an excellent resource for me in contacting women on the Internet in writing this book. Groups such as this can be used to allow girls to ask questions about what a career in science is really like, and what steps she can take to help prepare for such a career. Peer groups can be set up to help girls to know that their interest in math and science is shared by other girls, and they can then support each other in achieving their goals.
Who We Are:
Dorothy Bennett is currently running an NSF-sponsored telecommunications-based mentoring program for high school girls in science and technical courses. The Center for Children and Technology (CCT) was founded at Bank Street College in 1981. In 1993, CCT changed its institutional affiliation and became a division of the Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), of Newton, Massachusetts, a national nonprofit organization committed to quality education for all learners.
Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) is a publicly supported nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting human development through education. Through a wide range of projects, EDC works to address educational, health, and social problems and improve the quality of life for people of all ages and from all racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds.
What We Do:
The Center for Children and Technology is conducting a three year project to develop a variety of support systems for young women in high school science and technology courses to sustain their interests in these fields. The project draws on the strengths of telecommunications technology to build on-line communities of support among female high school students, professional women in the field, parents and teachers.
Why We Do It:
A very small number of young women pursue careers and college studies in science and technology. Research tells us, among other things, that young women often opt out of these fields because they are unaware of the career options that are available to them or they do not get the advice and guidance that they need to sustain their interest and to make informed decisions about their futures.
Currently in the second year of the project, we are working with high school students, their parents and teachers to implement and test on-line support systems that are rarely found in traditional classrooms. They include:
* Student-mentor Connections: Linking high school girls to women professionals who can provide: useful strategies for overcoming obstacles and fears, expert knowledge, and sound career advice to help sustain the interests of young women in science and technology.
* Peer Forums: Linking young women in high school science and technology classes together in discussion forums moderated by experienced mentors. Peer discussions will cover topics such as the balance of family and work, self image and self-confidence, networking and professional contacts, career opportunities and options, and strategies for dealing with classroom issues.
* Parent and Family Forums: Support for concerned family members which includes college and career information, and strategies for helping their high school girls prepare for futures in science and technology.
* On-line Resources: A World Wide Web site of curriculum materials, current research, college & career information and other information sources that have proven to be successful in drawing young women into science and technology.
The project is being implemented nationally through the Department of Energy's Adventures in Supercomputing Program (AiS). The AiS program has provided high schools serving a range of ethnically and economically diverse students with computers and telecommunications technologies to capture and cultivate the interests of these students, particularly girls, in science, mathematics, and computing.
The San Diego Supercomputer Center [SIDEBAR] Science Scholars program was designed for junior high and high school girls in the San Diego area to learn more about computers and mathematics. The program provides training for the girls at the San Diego Supercomputer Center training room, and home computers (Mac Performas) for minority girls. The program is funded through the National Science Foundation. Non-minority girls may participate as well, but don't recevie a computer, although they do receive a discount if they wish to purchase a computer and software donated by Microsoft and Broderbund.
The group meets several times a month, usually Wednesday afternoons, and the program alternates between meetings of the entire group of girls and "satellite groups" of 5-6 girls. There are currently four satellite groups, who meet alternate weeks for mentoring, projects, and mathematics instruction. The large group has an activity once a month, which is generally planned by one of the satellite groups.
In a typical project session, Jayne Keller presented the girls with an activity designed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and available on CD-ROM, "The Mission to Planet Earth". The CD contains images taken from the Galileo spacecraft as it passed by the Earth on its way to Jupiter. A worksheet with activities and questions was passed out, and the girls spent an hour looking at the images and answering questions from the worksheet. All of the girls were very comfortable with the computer and had little trouble completing the activity. Jayne was available to answer questions and help with problems, although most of the girls needeed very little assistance. Jayne also showed a short film, "San Diego: The Movie" which was produced at the San Diego Supercomputer Center by combining computer animation combined with satellite imagery. This gave the girls a good focus for understanding one way the images they were seeing could be used.
"I am working this year with a group of girls who are part of the SDSC Science Scholars program. They are all interested in computers. To encourage their interest, I let them choose software they have access to, but don't use and would like to learn about. I then work with them to come up with new applications, and we learn together how to use it.Many of the girls in the Science Scholars program have created their own World Wide Web sites. Here's how one girl, Tiffini, describes herself and what she has gained from the Science Scholar's program on her home page:My group also focuses on math. Several of the girls are in algebra for the second time. To encourage their interest in math, I start each of our meetings with logic/math problems. Once a month, I give them a "challenge" to do on their own. If they complete the challenge, they win a prize.
With all of the girls I have worked with in various programs, I have found that if you give them access to a web browser like netscape, and show them how to do a search to find information about something they are interested in, they will become interested in the internet. Many of them already are." -- Jayne Keller
"I am 15 years old, and I have lived in California most of my life. Though I was born in Los Alamos, New Mexico, I now live in San Diego, California. I am a freshman in the Poway Unified School District. I am a vegetarian. I love singing, dancing, and acting. I also love to play basketball and tennis. Playing and cuddling with my two Maltese dogs is also a favorite thing for me to do. During the past year, I have been a member of the Science Scholar Program offered at the San Diego Supercomputer Center, sponsored by the National Science Foundation. This educational program has provided me with valuable experience in many fields of science and computing, and has also enabled me to learn how to compose pages that are served up on the Internet. "Computer Graphics
This is the area I am most interested in. I had a very capable mentor to teach me in this area. Cherilyn Michaels, helped me understand the fundementals of computer graphics. I worked with VRML software, and realized that just creating a three dimentional image, was difficult. I also found that there is a lot of math required for just creating images. I feel particularly special, because I now understand the basic principles use to design complex motion pictures, such as Toy Story.
Neurobiology
I found this field more interesting after our satellite group went to an actual lab on the UCSD campus. At the lab we met a Neurobiologist named Kathy French, who explained her work to us. The lab's long term goal is to understand why a human's neurons grow the way that they do, how that effects our lives, and how the neurons 'compute' to make the body respond in a certain way. Since the human brain is so complex, it is far too difficult to understand at this time. The people working at the lab then decided that they would study creatures with a less complex neurological system. The creature they chose was the Liche. They have made many discoveries already, but they are still a long way away from knowing all that they want to, especially about people.
High Tech Computers
Meeting at the SDSC Center every week, really allowed me to see many of the worlds most interesting, technologically complex, computers in the world. I recently heard that one of the computers, in SDSC can compute eight billion numbers per second. That's pretty fast. I also learned though, that storage is a big problem. Since information can be computed so fast, it needs to be stored for further use, and that's where SDSC gets into trouble. So, storage systems are constantly being changed or upgraded.
Maresa Mora, a ninth grader at Junipero Serra High School and a third-year participant in SDSC's Science Scholars program, presented an overview of the Science Scholars program to educators and parents at the California Mathematics Council Southern Section (CMC-SS) 37th annual conference in Palm Springs, California.
Maresa and her mother Lyn Mora, a resource teacher for San Diego City Schools and former teacher at Grant Elementary School, gave an education workshop focusing on programs aimed to increase access and equity in mathematics and science for st udents in traditionally under represented groups.
The elder Mora spoke about the Family Math program, presenting a lesson called Perfect Squares, part of the UC Berkeley Lawrence Hall of Science's EQUALS program that she helped implement in the San Diego City schools, as well as SDSC's Science Sc holars program. Maresa will help her mother show teachers how to use elementary lessons using spreadsheets, graphing, and Internet techniques.
"I want people to know what a valuable experience participating in the Science Scholars program has been and continues to be for Maresa," Mora said. "For a ninth grader, I think her leadership skills and science, math and technical skills are great, pa rtly due to the program and the mentoring she received from the staff at SDSC."
Maresa talked about her experiences as a participant of the NSF-funded Science Scholars outreach program which targets junior high and high school girls. She will discussed one of her Science Scholar's homework projects, "The Body Measurem ent Lab," which is a Web-based lesson that statistically compares various individuals' body measurements.
"I am presenting at the conference as an advocate for programs that encourage females, especially those of underrepresented groups, to enter fields of mathematics and science," Maresa said. "I believe adults need to see for themselves how much students can achieve and learn through these programs and just how high academic standards can be."
"Our local AWIS chapter (like many chapters) has done a number of programs for pre-college age girls that include a parent component to:
- 1) Make parents aware of gender issues in science and math education
- 2) Give them tips of how to foster their daughter's interest in science.
We are currently working on a program, along with the WISE (Women In Science and Engineering)program here, funded by the Iowa Science Foundation, to develop hands-on science activities that will be presented by teams consisting of faculty, staff and students (grad and undergrad) from the University of Iowa . Theses programs are in areas of science designed to complement existing science curricula but drawing on the talents and resources of our university. The programs are designed in narrow age ranges and consist of activities about 45-60 min in length.
The program is designed to be presented at after-school programs or other extra-curricular sites. There will be extension activities for each module that will be sent home with the children to inform the parents about the science activities (hopefully stimulating communication between parent and child) and also stimulating the parent's interest. Because the Iowa City Community school district does not allow programs to be gender-based, we could not restrict the program to girls but are designing the activities in a way that will appeal to them. This is just one example of programs out there that are reaching out to girls."
Andrea Zardetto-Smith
University of Iowa
Co-Coordinators: Nancy Fisher and Cecelia Laurie
Project SPY, (Statistics Probability and You), was designed to encourage girls in Grades 8 and 9 to consider a career in the Mathematical Sciences. It requires full participation of those selected. The four-week workshop requires residence on campus, except for weekends. Monthly Saturday activities during the following academic school year is an important part of the program. Applicants are selected on the basis of student application forms, two teacher recommendation forms, grades, and interviews as requested.
Participants explore mathematics of the real through statistics and probability. They work and live side by side at the University of Alabama with other outstanding young women. They investigate project ideas and career options with professional women in mathematics and science related fields. Included in the project is a visit to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Marshall Space Flight Center, and other research centers.
Math Options, a Pennsylvania State U program, was conceived in 1991 as the Math and Science Career Day for Seventh-Grade Girls (Smith, PHILA. INQUIRER, 7/15/94). Fewer than 200 girls participated statewide in 1991, skyrocketing to 2,000 girls this year, according to the paper.
The program operates during the school year, but this summer Math Options offered its first week-long Summer Institute at Penn State's Ogaontz and Delaware County campuses. Activities included a trip to a Mobil oil refinery, an environmental lecture and outdoor project led by four EPA female scientists, and a dissection of animal body parts headed by Leah Devlin of Honeywell Inc., writes the paper. "We continue to be troubled by the underrepresentation of women in science disciplines," said Henry Halaiko, an outreach strategy consultant for Mobil. "There are many young girls that are being discouraged for one reason or another who never recover from that." Mobil has donated over $100,000 over the next five years for the Summer Institute, reports the INQUIRER.
Math Options also created a teacher training institute this year, partly due to the subtle discouragement teachers relay to female students, according to many of the women scientists. But the paper noted that "gender equity appeared to be more important to female teachers than to their male colleagues." Two of the eighty teachers at the institute were men, said Tracey Dolan, regional coordinator for Math Options. "I don't think males see gender equity as an issue," she said.
Dolan and other Math Options organizers initially established an advisory committee of scientists, educators and community leaders. "This is a community-based project," explain Cheryl Kaplan, a Math Options founder. "When you get close to the problem, you find out how many people are affected."
Math Options organizers are beginning to track the participant's progress. And the girls complete attitude survey's before and after the program, reports the paper.
When Ruth Fairman was a child, she wanted to become a physician, but that dream got crushed early on. Her father and others of influence told her to look elsewhere for a career. Girls grow up to be English teachers or nurses, secretaries or librarians, but not doctors, she was told again and again.
"If I had known better, I might have done things differently, but I just had to accept it. That was the way I was brought up," said Fairman, who took a circuitous route through academic and personal pursuits to become an astronomy instructor in the University of Tennessee's Physics Department.
Her real-life experience is one of the reasons Fairman puts so much energy into a summer program at UT called, "For Girls Only." She wants future generations of women to recognize and take advantage of the many opportunities available to them.
The week-long program, which is part of UT's "Kids U" summer curriculum, is offered to girls in grades six through eight. The students get a chance to meet and learn from women professionals in technical fields -- anthropology, veterinary medicine, engineering, geology and more. During the half-day sessions, young participants visit research facilities and take part in group exercises that are fun and fruitful.
"What I'm trying to do is show girls there are lots of choices," Fairman said. "They can have broadened horizons."
Cheryl LaBerge, director of UT's Non-Credit Community Programs, said "For Girls Only" tries to reach students at a critical period following elementary school. Research has shown girls at that stage progress more slowly in math and science, and one explanation is disinterest as a result of societal pressures that make it unflattering for girls to be smart, especially in certain subjects.
"Role models are just so important," LaBerge said. "I sat in on some of the sessions last year, and it was real exciting. You could see little light bulbs going on . . . It's a really neat opportunity for the girls."
One of the research exercises last year sent the girls on a trash hunt around UT's campus. It was intended to give them a feel for the work done by anthropologists. The girls searched for bits and pieces of junk, ranging from cigarette butts to scraps of metal to old ticket stubs, and tried to figure out what they could about the people who discarded the trash.
What turned out to be the most popular event last year actually took place after the official program was over. Fairman accompanied the girls on a visit to UT's veterinary hospital, where they got a tour and even watched an autopsy on a pregnant dog killed in a car wreck.
There were a few "Ooooh . . . yuk," kinds of responses, but most of the girls were keenly interested in the medical aspects and were able to identify some of the specific organs, like the liver and spleen, Fairman said.
In another session, a forest ranger brought a range of items she encountered in her job, including rocks, feathers, bones and even a turtle. The ranger also let the girls handle -- and smell -- equipment used to fight forest fires.
Although more opportunities exist for women than ever before, there are still indications that young girls are not getting the kind of encouragement they need to reach their potential and explore their career possibilities, Fairman said.
Asked what she hoped students would get from "For Girls Only," Fairman said:
"I'd like for them to come away with the idea that the world is bigger than they may have realized, they have more of a future than they thought . . . I hope they realize they can be anything they want . . . I point out to them there's only one thing they can't be: a father. But then boys can't be mothers!"
Students will learn to implement technology, sustain it, and serve as agents of change in a technology rich environment.
Seventh and Eighth grade students enrolled in the Camp will become technology Assistants at the school. They will also be enrolled in an elective during the school year in which training will continue. Students accepted for the camp were nominated by teachers. They were not required to have prior experience with computers, just a good attitude and interest in computing. A letter was sent to parent explaining the camp.
During this week students learned about the WWW, how to create HTML and create a home page for yourself.
Student reactions:
"During the school year, I attend The Rice School/La Escuela Rice, which is a school combined by both the Houston Independent School Distrist and Rice University The thing that I find most interseting about my school is that that there are computers everywhere that you can use at almost anytime to type up a report or research project. On the internet I like to research topics like actors, actress', soccer, music groups, and new movies that may be coming out in the future. I usually get on the internet without anything to look up and just surf around. I am training to be a tech assistant because I want to learn more about computers and what they are like, so that I can teach other people. Then eventually everyone would have some knowledge of computers." --Lauren
"This week I learned alot of new stuff about the internet. First of all I got to make my own homepage and put it up on the Internet. I got to learn how to take picture with a digital camera and then transfer them to photoshop. I learned how to scan in pictures and crop and rotate them so that they would be excatly like I wanted them to be. The one big thing I learned was HTML codes. They help you make things be flashing,bold, or any font you want. They also help you center things, make lines, and italic fonts. I am going to take what I learned and add to it with knowledgle that I will earn by being a technology assistant. This week has really taught me alot about computers and how to operate them." --Lauren
"This will be my second year attending The Rice School and I hope that this year will be better than the first. I think it is excellent that we are being taught how to use computers in almost every class. Having computers enables us to find huge amounts of information very quickly, which helps us to produce more detailed assignments. I also like having the variety of electives. As a technology assistant I hope to become more comfortable when using a computer. I also wish to improve my typing skills and learn more about using the internet." -- Ashley
"This week I came into class expecting a lot of speakers going over the basics of using computers. I was thrilled to discover that the subjects they were teaching were very new to me. I now know more than I ever thought I would know about the int ernet. Just going to various sites on the internet can be extremely informative. HTML was very exciting to learn because I knew that the finished product was going to be great. I find it amazing that just by typing a certain code you can create very co mplicated tables. I now can not wait to get the internet on my computer at home." --Ashley
"As a technology assistant I hope to share what I learn in class with others. I think it is wonderful that students are having the opportunity to teach their peers. During the class at school I want to learn everything I can about the internet. I also want to preview software and learn how to install it. Overall I thought that this camp was a great experience. I hope that this camp will be offered for many summers to come so other people can enjoy it as well." --Ashley
The Women of NASA program was developed by Jenny Otter in conjunction with the NASA NREN K-12 Partner School Program and the California Telemation Project. The program is for girls in grades 7-12 and runs for four to six weeks.
The two major goals of the Women of NASA project are to:
1. Provide as role models women who have succeeded and continue
to thrive in a high-tech environment.
2. Provide a resource where teachers have access to information
on gender equity in the classroom and materials that provide
insight on reducing inequities especially in math and science.
I. INTRODUCTION:
Young women of the ages twelve to fifteen are between a mountain peak and an open chasm regarding their own self-confidence. To nurture and encourage their self-confidence and determination, it is valuable for these young women to meet successful role models and have dialogues with them about the confusing issues of women in society. It is especially important for them to make contact with women who are succeeding in careers generally dominated by men such as science and math-based fields. Through their contact with these women, young girls and women receive much needed confirmation that society's pressures are real and that the decisions they are forced to make are indeed confusing and difficult. At the same time, these women provide assurance that these obstacles are conquerable. They also are able to give the girls and young women an idea of how their decisions today affect their tomorrows as they provide a link between school and the real-world.
The Internet is an ideal way for students and teachers to contact a wide variety of women to ask questions and discuss specific issues. By using the Internet for documentary research and connecting via e-mail to women working in specific fields of interest, students can prepare presentations for class discussions and individual projects. Research done via e-mail, Internet, personal contacts and library delving will develop into very fresh, original and encouraging final projects which will then be presented to a whole class.
Purpose:
1) For students to explore careers via the Internet, and e-mail dialogues with working women. This interaction will inspire and help students gain confidence in pursuing their own interests and talents. It will also help counterbalance the forces which nudge students (especially girls) away from their own potential.
2) For students to explore current women's issues utilizing the Internet.
Framework Connections:
Students will research using a wide variety of sources. They will employ critical thinking skills, especially questioning, evaluation and synthesis. Students will develop presentation skills such as visual display and oral report. They will connect their own lives with the adult world (relevance) via interviews and computer dialogues.
II. STUDENT OUTCOMES:
Students will:
1) use e-mail to communicate with professionals (especially women) in a variety of careers.
2) use internet tools such as the Web and gopher to gather research material regarding current women's issues.
3) learn to develop an appropriate and effective list of questions regarding careers .
4) gain an understanding of one current issue facing women.
5) prepare a visual and oral presentation regarding one issue facing women today and/or include data from responses to questions posed in e-mail dialogues.
Pre-class activity: Six weeks before the class begins the teacher solicits e-mail partners for the class by posting a description of the interactive nature of the class to appropriate newsgroups including those related to school projects such as kidsphere, schl.ideas, and schl.general and to newsgroups related to womenÕs issues.
III. ACTIVITIES:
Week One
1) Students will begin with a survey of issues affecting today's women.
a) As a class they will brainstorm a list of current issues especially those pertinent to women in careers.
b) The entire class will discuss the implications of these issues on women, and the controversies regarding different issues.
2) Students will then pair up or form small groups according to which issue they wish to study.
3) Each group will brainstorm its own list of possible sources of information under categories of books, periodicals, the vertical file, interviews, and internet, and review this list with the teacher.
4) After two to three days of information gathering from library reading and summarizing (see no. 5), student groups will expand to telephone or person to person interviews to local departments such as social services or employment agencies, directly to persons who may have data in response to specific questions developed by the group.
5) Students will keep a portfolio which exhibits documents received as well as summaries and reflections upon their contents. This will lead to a final presentation on the issue studied.
Week Two
6) Armed with basic information regarding the chosen issue, student groups will expand research to the internet using the following methods:
1. Direct connection to information in the following locations:
The "Women of NASA" Project Profiles of women working at NASA in which they discuss their careers and issues affecting them as women in math and science based fields. Provides links to other sites that contain information about various women issues, and contains bibliographies of documents about gender equity in the classroom.
Sample Letter for Whole Class Inquiry (Usable as model for individual letters)
Dear Professional,
I am a student at (name of school). I am interested in talking to women, like yourself, about the work you do and women's issues that come up in this work. (It may also help for students to include the amount of time that this project will take. It is suggested that no more than an hour a week should be requested of the professional) Please respond with:
- field of work - brief description of job - background needed i.e. education and experience - recommendations for what to do in high school in order to pursue such work i.e. must courses and experience - what is fun and satisfying about this work - what is tedious or difficult - your feeling about whether or not you have to be "superwoman" (meaning more efficient, attractive and harder working than men in the same field) to succeed at your level - range of salary - opportunity for women Also please comment on: - What, if any, obstacles you or other women face to rising to the top of your field.
Copyright © 1996-2004 Donna Woodka All Rights Reserved.