Female Students & Science

I think math and science are my academic weaknesses. Yet, throughout grade school and my first two semesters here at Saint Norbert, I performed well in my courses within those fields. So why do I think that they are my weaknesses?

A few days ago, my professor for my Integrated STEM Methods course assigned research reading for my classmates and I to complete called Agency Amidst Formidable Structures: How Girls Perform Gender in Science Class. In this article, Heidi Carlone expresses concern for the differences in interest, motivation, and engagement within the sciences and math fields between genders within the classroom. Carlone opened her research article sharing that interest, motivation, and engagement are a problem in the world of women in science because women are not expected to be interested and successful within the STEM field. Furthermore, she introduced the students in the study by sharing that the girls observed in fourth grade were more successful and interested in their science studies than they were a few years later as they entered high school. During this time frame, societal expectations of women seemed to impact the girls, and that involved the assumption that women can not “do science”. The weight of that stereotype seemed to have caused the girls a part of the study to lose interest and engagement within their science courses, and they were not as motivated to succeed as they did in the fourth grade. Carlone believes her research article will help address these issues by giving evidence-based data to support her claim that there is a difference in interest, motivation, and engagement between women and men within the STEM fields. 

Please note that Carlone’s intent is not call out people or teachers who are fastened onto the stereotypes of women in science; rather, Carlone wants us to consider how gender plays a role within the sciences and how we can change the trajectory of women in STEM.

So, to explain her conclusions a bit further, Carlone shared her methodology of collecting data as well as her conclusions based on the audiotapes, observations, and interviews she had with students as well as teachers and parents. She accurately documented the actual conversations and interactions of female students within the science classroom, and she shared the story of one student named Maribel, and the extreme change in her science interest from fourth grade to sixth grade. Here is an overview of her story:

Maribel was a high achieving student within the science classroom in fourth grade. She engaged in the subject content and helped her classmates understand the material as well. She was considered a top student in her class not only by her teacher Ms. Wolfe but also by her classmates. She asked good questions, participated well in group settings, raised her hand to answer questions, and demonstrated that she was actively engaged in the material by the way she sat upright and nodded her head to what Ms. Wolfe said. 

In fifth grade, Mirabel was inconsistent in her science-related academic performance. Her teacher, Ms. Campanel, shared that Mirabel was smart but not within the science realm. Rather, Mirabel displayed language expertise. Science was meaningful to Mirabel, but something had changed. Ms. Campanel also shared that Mirabel was a social butterfly and interested in feminine engagements rather than the science concepts she was a year prior. Mirabel claimed that she, “found normative masculine topics like forces and motion and go-carts ‘boring’”. 

Moving into sixth grade, Mirabel no longer saw herself as a high achieving student in the science field; instead, she displayed herself as being helpless. Her contributions to the class were minimal, and she would be stubborn to contribute meaningfully. In sixth grade, Mirabel’s instructor was Mr. Campbell, and Carlone says that Mirabel would come across as flirty at times with Mr. Campbell. Her classmates no longer claimed that she was a smart science student, and Mr. Campbell claimed that she needed to work harder in the science area of her academics. Mirabel disaffiliated from science, but why?

There are a few things to mention with this research article, and Carlone proves a few aspects while I have a couple that are more personal connections. Let’s first discuss Carlone’s points. To start, Carlone shared the impact a teacher has on the education of a child. She showed that as Mirabel progressed through grade school, she began with teachers similar to Ms. Wolfe who created a classroom learning environment that allowed her students to participate within the learning process. She then had Ms. Campanel who assigned more worksheets and had a correct methodology of completing work on a scientific concept. Lastly, she had a teacher like Mr. Campbell who allowed gender norms to overcome his classroom dynamics, and the female students in the class were not encouraged to excel as much as the guys were in science. I am not saying that Mirabel’s teachers gradually were less effective in her learning because Carlone notes that each of Mirabel’s teachers “promoted individual achievement over collaborative endeavors”. Instead, Mirabel allowed heteronormativity to overcome her interests, motivations, and engagements. This leads to the second point Carlone makes about social influences. Social influences can change the directory of a student’s academic achievement. As Mirabel began middle school and established herself within that context, she began to be more focused on what others thought of her rather than succeeding in her science classes. It was noted in the research article that science is perceived as a masculine field; therefore, Mirabel did not want to associate with science because she wanted guys to be interested in her. Additionally, being a science geek does not necessarily give you all the friends in the world. Social pressures are legitimate, and Mirabel demonstrates the destructive nature of social pressure in one’s endeavors and success.

Mirabel’s story is unfortunate, but what is additionally sad (at least to me)  is how I can relate to her story, and I feel that several others could also. As I shared above, I have always performed well in my science and math courses; yet, I view them as my weakness. Why? Because it has been demonstrated to me that science is a masculine field. When I was in grade school, white, middle-class males in my classes were the ones who performed the best in science and math. If I needed help with some content, I would ask my male friends for assistance. It was almost a comfort to have them there in class with me just in case I did not understand the material myself. However, there were several times when I willingly assisted them with the class content as well. Stereotypes influenced my thinking about my performance in STEM, and I guess you could say that is one reason why I am not entering a STEM field (I do really love kids though, so I am excited to become a teacher!). I have lost the interest I had at the beginning of my school career, and I have convinced myself that science is not an area of strength for me to build upon.

Overall, there is a lot of work to be done within our communities to help our students grasp their passions despite the gender stereotypes present, and from my growth in understanding of this subject as well as the connection I was able to make to my own life experiences, I am going to be able to encourage my students in great ways.

Below I have a link to a website where you can access Heidi Carlone’s research article. You do have to pay to read her research more in-depth, but if I find one that is free I will update the link for you all!

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/tea.21224

Comment below about your science experience in grade school! Are you passionate about science?

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Citation:

Carlone, H. B., Johnson, A., & Scott, C. M. (2015). Agency amidst formidable structures: How girls perform gender in science class. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 52(4), 474-488.