Dr. Sally K. Ride and the Science Promotion Tour
January 5, 2010
by Optixmom
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Former Astronaut Dr. Sally K. Ride is promoting the sciences in a tour encouraged by the Obama Administration. Dr. Ride’s efforts in inspiring America’s youth to pursue careers in the sciences was written up in a New York Time’s Blog out of the Bay Area in California. The title of the blog, Math, Tech and the Women Who Don’t Love Them, incensed me just a tad. Yup, let’s just perpetuate the false rumor that women don’t like math or technology, Mr. Shih.
Our American youth are not stampeding into graduate programs in the physical sciences on the whole. Dr. Ride’s presence on this tour reinforces the fact that science and math can be enjoyed by either gender. I like that she is changing the face of science and she is doing it without wearing a white lab coat or pocket protector. Bill Nye the Science Guy is so 1980 (sorry Bill). There are many factors that go into the dwindling interest in the physical sciences and these factors cover the disinterest of both genders. Mr. Shih did not mention the minuscule numbers of African or Latin American males who major in science in college. When you use gender as your only identifier, you miss out on the bigger picture.
Yes, there are few women going into the physical sciences currently compared to men, but the numbers have increase over the past 10 years. Minority representation in the physical sciences are also at an increase. Are the numbers at a place where they have potential to be? Not yet. Changing the landscape of what a scientist looks like can’t happen in just 25-30 years, but it does have the capacity to happen. Dr. Ride should invite some other personalities to go with her on her tour. Persistence and reinforcement on the virtues of science given by a diverse group of individuals will pay off in turning more American youth on to science.
More like, “Math, Tech, and the Male Assholes Who Drive Women Out of Them.”
Why don’t they just let Larry Summer do the PR for the tour?
Samanthasmom,
Did you know there was a study done on men whose names were Larry Summers and their capacity to make poor judgment calls especially in the area of anything that has to do with common sense and money? They found that these particular individuals lack the ability to see anything rational, they tended to fall asleep at meetings, and they talked louder than anyone else in the room to make themselves feel superior. It was also discovered that their decisions on how to manage other people’s money were lacking because they didn’t go grocery shopping with their mothers when they were little. It was the final decision by the PI of the study to prevent all Larry Summers from working in any position that relied upon consulting in areas of finances or the economy.
I guess someone in DC didn’t get the memo.
end sarcasm.
Great comments! Part of the problem is the quality of public education. I sent my son to public high school and they did have what could be a great science and math program. But you had to chronically advocate to make sure he was in the necessary classes some parents don’t have that kind of time. He also had a constant demonstration of how to fail at life right under his nose from all the kids who had no ambition but partying. Sure a mature kid could thrive in that environment but I don’t know any mature teenagers. I sent my daughter to a Catholic all girls school which had a female Principal with a PhD in Physics. They had engaging programs everyday from 6 am to 7pm. Everyone from the school went to college, everyone was expected to succeed, they saw to it that everyone had goals and they had a 30% minority student body they also had a huge endowment and many kids of all races on scholarship. I met with them about 2 hours a year, there was no need to constantly keep checking if my child was getting the necessary classes. She had no ongoing demonstration on how to fail at life under her nose. They spend less per pupil than the public schools. I don’t know what the answer is for society as a whole but I saw what worked for my kids. I have to say as of now both kids have turned out well but my son took the bumpy road a few times and paid for it.
I have worked with one of Bill Clinton’s scientific advisers and he had found that when our economy was at its peak, many students in college were not going into science or teaching fields as much as leisure (i.e. hotel management, etc.) and entertainment fields. Less than 1% of those seeking teaching degrees were concentrating on the physical sciences. So compound some of the problems in the public schools now in terms of class size and deficits with the fact that they cannot access any qualified teachers in the physical sciences. It would be a shame to capture the curiosity of children in the sciences and then abruptly pull the rug out from under them because there is no outlet for them to pursue their interests in school.
As Bes stated, in many cases if the parents don’t play a 24/7 active roll in advocating for their child in public school, then many students lose the desire to learn because it is just easier. With many households having the parent(s) working full-time, it is nearly impossible to be a strong advocate.
Some states are starting to have programs where professionals who used math and science in their jobs everyday can teach in High Schools when they retire. Since math and science people tend to be high earners many retire young and this could be a good source of teachers. I actually think a similar program could work in many fields especially writing. My son was able to take all his writing classes from an old guy who gave his classes based around Science Fiction books thanks to me living at his school and being on a first name basis with the humongous staff of counselors and administration people. He only taught two classes a day so he wasn’t exhausted and he used a topic he loved to be inspiring to the kids. But there were 5 Principals at his school in the four years he was there and programs changed so rapidly that what you signed on for in the Spring wasn’t there by Fall. I don’t know who they are running the public schools for but it isn’t kids and their futures and it also isn’t for the benefit of society in general.
From what I can see society needs to get over the idea that going to college is the only way to be successful. When I went to public schools at least half of the classes were considered vocational and kids who didn’t want to go to college could get valuable work skills in High School. That is not the case now so no wonder kids who know no one is going to pay for them to go to college are barely showing up for High School. They need to teach relevant skills to people who need to get a job right out of high school.
In my experience public school teachers seem to discourage girls as well as minorities from going into either math or science. This needs to stop and yes it is mostly white male teachers who do this. Teachers need to be reminded that they only have their students for only a short period of their life but they have them at their vulnible time of their lives. They don’t know who they are yet and these teachers tell these little girls that they can’t do math. I learned this because it was done to me. I tell my kids that teachers can’t make good decisions about their student’s personaility to say that. It worked my oldest daughter is fantastic at math and blew her teacher’s minds in high school.
Girls aren’t supposed to be good at history either but I am pretty good. I have stumped quite a few history teachers in my day all male and every one of them loved it. Girls can do anything that boys can do only better.
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