An enormous and growing body of literature suggests that the field of science tends to disenfranchise women. In their science reform initiatives, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1989) and the National Research Council (1996) have called for improving the science literacy of all Americans. But gender disparity continues, particularly in the physical sciences.
Differences in the academic achievement of male and female students appear as early as age 9 and persist through age 17, according to the results of a National Assessment of Educational Progress study (National Center for Educational Statistics 1995). The study showed that although girls outperform boys in reading and writing, males soon begin to outperform girls in math and science.
Surveys by the National Science Foundation (1990) and the National Research Council (1987) revealed that women still earned only about 34 percent of the doctorates in the biological sciences, 21 percent in chemistry, 17 percent in earth sciences, 17 percent in mathematics, 9 percent in physics, and 9 percent in engineering. Although the number of women receiving doctorates in chemistry has grown steadily in recent years, women remain few and far between on chemistry faculties of large research universities (Brennan 1996).
The More Things Change...
From 1994 through 1996, I had a series of conversations with veteran chemistry teachers. The conversations were part of a study I conducted at Michigan State University in an effort to gauge student attitudes, values, and beliefs about gender problems in high school science education. Anna Kasov, who has taught both life sciences and physical sciences, now teaches introductory chemistry at a Midwest high school surrounded by middle-class to upper-middle-class subdivisions. She and I both began teaching almost 30 years ago and she was, in the words of one of her students, "a feminist before it was popular."
Kasov recalls that trying to find her way in a male-dominated science world was an uphill fight. Although drawn to the physical sciences in college, she saw biology as more appropriate for social reasons. "It was safer there," she says:You could say you were in biology and that was OK for a girl, but if you were a chemistry major, you had to keep explaining why. And then there was the physics professor who always picked on me—the one female in his class. I was the one who had to recite all the time. And there was one women's bathroom in the whole physics building; it was really for the secretaries. I wasn't on a crusade, so I just went ahead and got a bachelor's degree in biology.
Such experiences have motivated Kasov to mitigate social difficulties for her own students. She tries to help her female students "realize how very capable they are; and that the questions they ask are really good; and that they should be asking questions." Kasov marvels that "there is something different in these girls. You'd think that they would have given up by now." She sees cause for encouragement in the many female students who believe they are capable of handling the cognitive demands of high school chemistry and who have high hopes for a future in the sciences.
On the other hand, Kasov sees that some things have not changed: the subtle and not-so-subtle messages that chemistry is not women's work and that no interesting woman could be a scientist. These messages often are conveyed by the media—television's science teachers, Bill Nye the Science Guy, white-coated men endorsing over-the-counter medications in TV ads. These messages are still getting through to young women.
A Supportive Culture
One of Kasov's goals is to create a classroom atmosphere that is emotionally safe for females and males alike. She tries to develop a sense of community where students feel that they belong and their teacher is interested in them; she wants to establish a climate of trust where students support one another's freedom to fail. She lets students know that risks and mistakes are vital to learning: I think they feel that there's a lot of forgiveness here. If you do badly on one test, you can do better on another one. I'm going to ask you why you think you had trouble with this one rather than write you off.
- Model ways to take intellectual risks. Be willing to make conjectures and to explain how you use evidence. Don't be afraid to say "I don't know" or "I made a mistake." But follow up with appropriate action.
- Encourage students to play with ideas and to think creatively instead of assuming that there are clear-cut textbook answers to every problem.
- Require students to treat classmates' contributions with respect. Remind them that researchers often make important scientific discoveries by mistake. Give specific examples.
- Pay attention to the frequency and nature of female and male participation. Shape class discussions to make participation equally comfortable for girls and boys.
- Consider single-gender laboratory groups. This can help eliminate some stereotypical gender roles, such as female scribes and male technicians.
Encouraging Careers
Many girls need sustained encouragement to experience the intellectual freedom they need to succeed in school science and to consider making science their life's work. As Kasov observes: I found that with a lot of girls, you have to say, "Well, have you thought about taking advanced placement chemistry?" And they say, "Oh, really? Do you think I could do that?" The boys who are reasonably successful invariably fill out the Chem forms for recommendations for the next year's classes—sometimes they fill them out even though they don't belong in those classes. Boys just think that way. The girls don't believe they can do it unless you tell them they can, and even then there's a hesitancy.
- For chemistry students, create electronic or face-to-face mentoring relationships with female scientists who have successful careers in academic research.
- Assign students articles in professional journals written by female research scientists. Have one or two students contact the authors, ask a question about their research, and report back to the class. If appropriate, discuss how these people balance their careers and personal lives.
- Take the direct approach: Teach girls about the forms of discrimination they may face in academic research and how to deal with them creatively and effectively.
- Actively encourage girls to take higher-level science and mathematics courses.
- Contact recent graduates of your school who have succeeded in college-level science and ask them to come back and talk about their experiences.
A New Pedagogy
In chemistry class, the subject matter itself is frequently structured in ways that make it more difficult for many girls to grasp. As Sandra Harding (1989) puts it, science "bears the imprint of its makers." Thus Kasov searches for teaching approaches that better fit females' ways of knowing and learning.
She observes that men and women have different styles of teaching science. A male chemistry teacher "gets those kids to listen to his lectures. He's got this chalkboard that rolls. It's far more structured." Her male colleagues, she notes, "generally construct a more analytical, abstract, and logical experience in chemistry class that can turn young women away:"
For example, Kasov explains, it may be important for girls—and perhaps for many boys—to look at the big picture first, how everything fits together and applies to real life. Girls, particularly, have a strong need to know why they are learning about things and how it is connected to the way the real world works. Kasov recalls her own experience as a student:One of the things that I vividly remember is sitting in this lecture going through these biochemical cycles. I wondered where this happens—in the cell, in the nucleus, in the mitochondria? The guy didn't even bother to tell us. We were counting ATPs somewhere and I thought, "This is so stupid. I have no idea what this has to do with anything."
- Consider reorganizing the typical curricular scope and sequence that begins with atomic theory and builds from there. Instead, lay a foundation with the big picture: introduce the history and philosophy of chemistry and chemical knowledge.
- Spend more time using the periodic table early in the year. But make sure that students understand that this is merely a tool, a human construction that allows us to explain and predict the characteristics and behavior of real substances in the real world.
- Give young women opportunities to manipulate technology and act as experts in certain procedures. Try to tone down competition with peers; instead, foster collaborative problem solving.
- Choose metaphors carefully and avoid those that are stereotypically gender-related. For example, don't ask students to "tackle problems" or "carry the ball" during a discussion.
- Integrate the history, the social context, and the social implications of scientific discoveries into the curriculum. Carefully show how chemistry and the products of chemical research are alive and well in students' daily lives.
- Prepare teaching units that integrate chemical concepts with other disciplines—not only math and other sciences but also history, literature, and the arts.
- Have students write essays and lab reports that require them to use evidence for making an argument, and challenge them to think critically and creatively.
- Use alternative assessments that require writing and oral skills.
Benefits for Both Sexes
In attempting to reach the egalitarian ideal of increased scientific literacy for all students, we can learn from the experiences of thoughtful science teachers, both male and female. Kasov's classroom observations have prompted me to rethink troubling experiences that I had as a high school chemistry teacher. I have woven what I have learned from my study into my current work as a researcher and science educator.
Kasov and I share the belief that high school teachers can make a difference in the lives of adolescents as they make sense of their world, make decisions about academic work, and begin to think about possible careers. The changes that she suggests will benefit students of both genders. As she says, these practices are just "plain good teaching."
