Many myths have suggested that girls, math and science just don’t mix. Recent research programs have however shot down many of those myths, but the struggle to get girls into STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields continues.
Here are 6 Myths about girls and science:
Myth 1: From the time they start school; most girls are less interested in science than boys are.
Reality: In elementary school about as many girls as boys have positive attitudes toward science. A recent study of fourth graders showed that 66 percent of girls and 68 percent of boys reported liking science. But something else starts happening in elementary school. By second grade, when students (both boys and girls) are asked to draw a scientist, most portray a white male in a lab coat. Any woman scientist they draw looks severe and not very happy. The persistence of the stereotypes start to turn girls off, and by eighth grade, boys are twice as interested in STEM careers as girls are. The female attrition continues throughout high school, college and even the workforce. Women with STEM higher education degrees are twice as likely to leave a scientific or engineering job as men with comparable STEM degrees.
Myth 2: Classroom interventions that work to increase girls’ interest in STEM run the risk of turning off the boys.
Reality: Actually, educators have found that interventions that work to increase girls’ interest in STEM also increase such interest among the boys in the classroom. When girls are shown images of women scientists and given a greater sense of possibility about the person they could become, the boys get the message too — “I can do this!”
Myth 3: Science and math teachers are no longer biased toward their male students.
Reality: In fact, biases are persistent, and teachers often interact more with boys than with girls in science and math. A teacher will often help a boy do an experiment by explaining how to do it, whereas when a girl asks for assistance the teacher will often simply do the experiment, leaving the girl to watch rather than do.
Myth 4: When girls just aren’t interested in science, parents can’t do much to motivate them.
Reality: Parents’ support (as well as that of teachers) has been shown to be crucial to a girl’s interest in science, technology, engineering and math. Making girls aware of the range of science and engineering careers available and their relevance to society works to attract more women (as well as men) to STEM careers.
Myth 5: At the college level, changing the STEM curriculum runs the risk of watering down important “sink or swim” coursework.
Reality: The mentality of needing to “weed out” weaker students in college majors — especially in the more quantitative disciplines — disproportionately weeds out women. This is not necessarily because women are failing. Rather, women often perceive “Bs” as inadequate grades and drop out, while men with “Cs” will persist with the class.
Myth 6: Critics of programs to boost women’s interest in STEM fields often argue that women are just born at a disadvantage. Women, for example, are said to be worse at spatial reasoning than men, among other weaknesses.
Reality: While gender differences do appear on standardized tests, that doesn’t mean they’re innate. The spatial ability gap, for instance, disappears in cultures where women are dominate and is stronger in patriarchal cultures.
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