Girls in the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics Fields

As the father of three daughters, I am really interested in ensuring that my girls have the broadest range of career options available for them. I want them to have the opportunity to go into whatever field they are interested in and have the opportunity to go as far as their talents, efforts, and luck will take them.

There has been a great deal of concern at K12, undergraduate, and graduate levels concerning girls entering the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) areas. There has been a lot written about what possible causes and solutions concerning girls interested in the STEM fields.

One of my daughters recently attended a week-long summer camp, Girls and Mathematics, sponsored by two colleges of the University of Virginia (UVA). Forty middle-school girls doing a week of mathematics (hard stuff too!), with about half a dozen college-age instructors (all women). A UVA professor, Irina Mitrea, was the program organizer. While not perfect, the program was impressive. An ethnically diverse group, the kids were all normal looking and acting kids. The instructors all normal looking, and acting, college age women.

Although a multiple variable problem, my experiences as a father and a college professor point to overcoming stereotypes and peer pressure as one of the main issues of recruiting in these fields. There are these stereotypes ‘out there’ that if you are ‘good at math’, you look, dress, and act like a dork. And, conversely, if you look, dress, and act ‘normal’, then you can’t be good at math, or technology, or science, or engineering.

Some of the negative stereotypes have some basis, unfortunately. Funding agencies, especially, NSF have thrown money at this problem, usually focused on the student (as if they are the problem). Want to make an immediate impact? Get funding to have all the current STEM instructors – the men and the women -- to take a ‘what not to wear’ course.

Can’t tell you the number of professors doing research in this area that are re-enforcing the negative stereotypes. Or, the number of recruiting events or science camps that I have been too where the speaker or instructor looked and acted like they had just walked out of a Delbert cartoon.

That’s one thing I liked about the Girls and Mathematics camp – the whole thing ran by women. More importantly, though, good role models (i.e., no dorks), which is what’s needed to break some of these existing negative stereotypes.

Luckily, it appears that these stereotypes about girls and the STEM fields are breaking down already, as this article about ‘geek becomes chic’ discusses.

We need similar camps for girls in the tech area, although the search engine area has done pretty well in the demographic recruiting. When I visit the search engine or search engine marketing companies, there is a pretty gender diversity. I noticed the same thing in a search engine marketing course that I taught. I believe it has something to do with practical application of technology with the mix of business.