According to the article, while things have improved, we have a long way to go until we see the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields reflect the proportion of women in society in general or even in the university world where they account for 58% of the population. “Only one-fifth of physics Ph.D.’s in this country are awarded to women, and only about half of those women are American; of all the physics professors in the United States, only 14 percent are women,” says author Eileen Pollack. The reasons for this inequality are numerous, but common sense begs for a solution. In a country that continues to fall further and further behind others in math and science competitions, but wishes to remain competitive and has seen a 180 degree shift in the percentage of men and women on college campuses in the past fifty years, a simple and obvious tactic for the United States to be strong in STEM-related fields would be to enroll more women in science and math courses and encourage them to pursue careers in those areas.
One major factor that is preventing more women from pursuing work in STEM-related fields is a lack of overt support. While there seem to be built in biases and institutionalized structures that encourage men to persevere, women lack these support systems; consequently, when they have crises of confidence, as all scientists do, there are neither the people nor the systems to pick them up and help them to continue in the face of adversity.
At Bosque, we can take great pride in the fact that 84% of our senior female students are taking the highest level courses in science and math. Of the 55 females in the Class of 2014, almost half are taking two advanced science courses, four students are taking three advanced science courses, and two are taking four advanced science courses. Perhaps one of the reasons that our Bosque girls continue in science is that they have a strong network of fellow females, and encouraging male and female teachers who push them hard and help pick them up when they fall.
We also send a message that we expect our female students to do well in science. Among the many good reasons that all our freshmen are required to take either Conceptual Physics or Physics 1 is the simple fact that 100% of our female students then take more science classes. When girls take physics and succeed, they are more apt to continue to take high level courses in science.
Unfortunately, this is not the national norm. Pollack states, “Although the percentage of girls among all students taking high-school physics rose to 47 percent in 1997 from about 39 percent in 1987, that figure has remained constant into the new millennium.” All too often in high schools where physics is a terminal course in the science sequence, the physics classrooms may be overwhelmingly populated by boys.
Just the other day, a Bosque alumna, who was on fall break, visited my office to update me on how things were going in her sophomore year at a prestigious university on the East Coast. This young lady, who is majoring in physics, is currently taking the course that weeds out those who are serious from those who may be dabbling with the notion of majoring in a science field. She said that the course is demanding, but she’s persevering -- meeting with the professor and making her way through. I couldn’t help wondering if she is getting the same support from her college classmates and professors that she had at Bosque that will enable her to make it through the tough times in college. For both personal and philosophical reasons, I sure hope so. She’s a bright and interesting young lady who will do great things, but more than that, we need more young women like her to pursue a career in the sciences, and in the process, make her university and our world a better place.
