Problems and Solutions:
What the Research Says About Teaching STEM to Women
The Problem
There is a societal perception that girls aren't good at math and the sciences and many girls opt out of these subjects starting as early as middle school. Through elementary school, girls and boys report equal interest and confidence in science, math, and technology. In sixth grade, girls begin reporting the perception that computers, math, and science are "boy things." As girls choose to opt out of educational and extracurricular experiences, they are not prepared for later opportunities, narrowing their options.
Much has been made recently of the increased numbers of women graduating from college. What is lost in this news is the decreases in women majoring in STEM subjects. In 2006, 59% of undergraduate degree recipients were women, but only 21% of Computing and Information Science degree recipients were women. In 1985, 37% of undergraduate computer science degrees went to women, while in 2006, only 14% of undergraduate computer science degrees were awarded to women. There has been a 70% decline in the number of incoming undergraduate women majoring in computer science just between 2000 and 2005.
The problem also exists at the high school level. While 56% of AP test takers in 2006 were girls, 48% of AP Calculus test takers were girls and only 15% of AP Computer Science test takers were girls. The problem pervades extracurricular opportunities such as the Intel Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). In 2005, 54% of the ISEF finalists in Biochemistry were girls, but only 24% of the ISEF finalists in Math were girls and 12% of ISEF finalists in Computer Science were girls.
Solutions
Equity demands that we have high expectations and provide strong support for ALL students. Cynthia Lanius says, "I think of gender equity as including girls, not excluding boys."
The problem is clear and a body of research has begun recommending a variety of solutions. You will find references to many of the solutions throughout the rest of the site. Below are links to some of the research, both of the problem and of the solutions.
References:
- AAUW Reports: Under the Microscope (2004) (pdf), Tech Savvy (2000) (pdf), How Schools Shortchange Girls (1992), All AAUW reports
- NCWIT By The Numbers statistics (pdf) and promising practices
- Lecia Barker and William Aspray, "The State of Research on Pre-College Experiences of Girls with Information Technology." In McGrath Cohoon, J. and W. Aspray (Eds.) Women and Information Technology: Research on the Reasons for Under-Representation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2006
- The Math forum has a page of annotated links about gender equity and a somewhat out-of-date annotated bibliography
- Tracy Camp, "The Incredible Shrinking Pipeline" published Communications of the ACM, vol. 40, no. 10, pp. 103-110, Oct. 1997.
- Cynthia Lanius' summary presenting the research findings as of 2000, showing changes in AP participation and SAT scores among other things.
- The ACSD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) reports on some research supporting single-sex classrooms.
- And then there are articles like this Newsweek summary which we need to read so as to be prepared to counter the claims that schools are "pro-girl" or "anti-boy".
- "The Nation's Female Freshmen Lack Computer Confidence" University of California, Los Angeles, Higher Education Research Institute, 2000
- The NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) has a position statement on gender equity which includes suggestions and a list of references
