After our class discussion on how there is an obvious imbalance
when it comes to women in fields of math and science, I wanted to find out more
information on why this is. I came across a very relevant article in
the NY Times, Girls Excel in the Classroom but lag in Entry to 8 Elite Schools in the City. The article is referring to the 8 Specialized
High Schools that require high test scores in order for students to be
accepted. These schools include Bronx High School of Science,
Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Tech, and others that emphasize curriculum on mathematics
and science. While girls in NYC have shown to do better in school due to
grades, why is it that girls aren't being admitted as equally as boys
to the elite high schools?
The
main reason there is such an imbalance is because of the specialized high
school exam. The fact that these highly renowned schools
emphasize so much on test scores seems to be effecting not only girls across
the board, but minorities as well. How well you do on these
specialized exams has a lot more to do with your financial ability to afford
tutoring and test prep, rather than your actual academic skills. Also,
rates show that fewer girls even bother taking the exam.
There are examples of high schools that
manage to have more girls than boys, such as Bard High School Early College and
Fiorello LaGuardia High School for Performing Arts. I actually attended
Fiorello LaGuardia High School, which is known for having many more girls than
boys (73 percent of the students are girls.) It
was because LaGuardia based its acceptance only on grades and artistic talent
that attracted me most. Bard as well is a high school that doesn't use
specialized exams for admittance and the majority of students are girls.
This article discusses the issue we brought up in class, that girls aren’t
drawn to math and science the way boys are: “the gap at the elite schools
could be as elemental as their perception as havens for science, technology,
engineering or math, making them a natural magnet for boys, just as girls might
gravitate to schools known for humanities.” (Baker) But is this really a
“natural magnet for boys”? Boys aren’t born having more interests in math
or science, while girls aren't necessarily more interested in
humanities. I agree completely with the statement that followed saying
that instead of this disproportion of boys to girls in math and science being
because of discrimination, “you’re looking at habit, culture,perceptions, tradition and
curricular emphasis.” (Chester E. Finn Jr., President of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute) This is an issue that began a long time
ago, when it was only men who were in the work force as engineers, scientists,
or mathematicians. We've now passed down this idea that men are
naturally better at science and math than women. But, now that we've outgrown
this dated thinking, and women are seen not only as equal in society but equal
as intellectuals as well, why are we as a culture not pushing for more formal
education that would boost girls’ interest in these fields?
It
has to become more of a priority to help get girls more interested in these
math and science fields in order for the work force to actually see more women
as engineers and scientists, and to no longer attribute math and science to
something only boys can be good at.
Just as you stated in the beginning of the article, It's extremely difficult because women do get discourage to apply for programs which are more masculine based. Even though they do perform better than males some still face many alot of shut downs in these fields which makes them feel like the cant move pursue these careers because "Girls are in fact dumb at math/science". Since they are not being encourage from a young age especially in some classrooms settings they are not dealing with the constant challenges teachers place on boys in order to understand why there answers are correct or to make them think more intellectually. There has been other studies conducted which even stated that even teachers form some gender bias in the classrooms by calling on males more, challenging them when they got the answer wrong, and congratulating them while females are not congratulated for a correct response(cant remember the name). Many of these issues combine make young girls pursue other careers in where they feel they may fit instead of pursing the more challenging ones.
ReplyDeleteI find this topic interesting because I never really thought of the fact that boys are percieved as being better at math and science. I personally don't think that I am very good at either, but I was never discouraged from taking any math or science course. I do see how girls can be discouraged and not even try to go against the odds or the social norm, so they just accept that they are not good at science or math. Not everybody has the personality or the mentality of trying something and achieving things just to prove others wrong, so they just accept that they are not good at that thing and leave it. Like you said, Lola Bunny, the financial status of a person can be a factor, but I think it can be as much of a factor for boys as it is for girls. For this reason, I don't think that their financial ability is the greatest factor for why girls are not doing as well or preparing as well for these tests.
ReplyDeleteI think that seeing women in the science and math fields can be a great help for young girls to see that women can do great things in these fields. By seeing these women they can see that they can try hard and be just as good as men in math and science.