Gender Studies

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Gender Studies in Technology Education
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Bob Claymier Delaware (OH) City Schools ITEA /
TECC conference March, 2007
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Equality Vs. Equity
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• Why is now a critical
• time for girls
• regarding STEM
• courses and careers?

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1. A Critical Time U.S. Economy
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1. A Critical Time
U.S. Economy
Because women and underserved groups comprise the
nations majority, the challenge is no longer
either a social or even moral responsibility. It
is a national economic imperative, and, after
September 11th, a national security
imperative. Jackson, Shirley A, 2002
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1. A Critical Time
U.S. Economy
If the United States continues failing to prepare
citizens from all population groups for
participation in the new, technology-driven
economy, our nation will risk losing its
economic and intellectual preeminence. National
Engineers Week Foundation, 2004
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1. A Critical Time Careers
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1. A Critical Time
Careers
Percentage of Men and Women in the Workforce
of M/W in Total Workforce
of M/W in Science and Engineering Jobs
Girls Incorporated, 2004
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1. A Critical Time
Careers

Weekly Averages
Girls Incorporated, 2004
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1. A Critical Time Schools and Classes
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1. A Critical Time
Schools and Classes
Sex differences in achievement and course
selection vs. Sex differences in careers and in
career aspirations
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1. A Critical Time
Schools and Classes
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1. A Critical Time
Schools and Classes
Girls enroll in about as many upper level high
school math and science courses as boys, but are
much less apt to major in math, science or
engineering fields. They also drop out at higher
rates. National Engineers Week Foundation, 2004
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1. A Critical Time
Schools and Classes
Girls Incorporated, 2004
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1. A Critical Time
Schools and Classes
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2. What barriers inhibit gender equity in
STEM classes and careers?
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2. Barriers Values
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2. Barriers
Values

• Girls value
• Helping people
• Helping the environment
• Creativity of design and self expression
• Cooperative groups

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2. Barriers
Values
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2. Barriers
Values
Girls often report a lack of self-confidence in
STEM courses, even though they might be
academically strong in those areas.
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2. Barriers
Values
Extraordinary Women Engineers Project
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2. Barriers Stereotypes and Culture
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2. Barriers
Stereotyping and Culture
Girls who are not exposed to toys that encourage
scientific, mathematical or technological
thinking are less likely to develop an interest
in related subject areas at school. Sanders,
Koch, and Urso (1997)
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2. Barriers
Stereotyping and Culture
Many studies show that girls score better on
tests that include items dealing with abstract
ideas, while boys do better on items involving
spatial and problem solving skills Clewell, 2002.
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2. Barriers
Stereotyping and Culture
Girls often fail to see themselves fitting into
STEM classes or careers.
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2. Barriers
Stereotyping and Culture
Girls are greatly influenced by the stereotyping
and cultural bias of significant others in their
lives concerning their involvement with STEM
courses and careers.
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2. Barriers
Stereotyping and Culture
One study found that teachers believed boys to be
more interested, more confident, and
higher achievers in SMET than girls. Teachers,
moreover, did not feel that they had
responsibility for causing gender differences.
(Plucker,1996) Clewell, 2002
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2. Barriers Schools and Classes
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2. Barriers
School and Classes
High school courses do not prepare girls well to
pursue STEM courses in college.
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2. Barriers
School and Classes
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2. Barriers
School and Classes
Girls do not receive enough information about
STEM college courses.
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2. Barriers
School and Classes
Students often feel that STEM content lacks
relevance to their lives (Markert, 2003 Jacobs
Becker, 1997 Sanders, Koch, Urso, 1997)
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2. Barriers Role Models, Mentoring, and
Networking
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2. Barriers
Role Models, Mentoring, Networking
That there are few females in nontraditional
occupations was often cited as a reason for girls
not to take technology education or consider a
technological career. (Silverman and Pritchard,
1995)
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2. Barriers Careers
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2. Barriers
Careers
Girls do not have an understanding of what
engineering is. They do not show an interest in
the field nor do they think it is for
them. Extraordinary Women Engineers, 2005
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2. Barriers
Careers
Girls were uninformed about economic realities
and the world of work. (Silverman and
Pritchard, 1995)
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3. Solutions for Gender Equity in
Technology
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• How do we help
• girls find value in
• STEM courses and
• classes?

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3. Solutions
Values

• Relate technology to girls lives
• Educate girls to be designers
• Build on girls perspectives and values
• Show the impact of technology upon society

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3. Solutions
Values

• Increase self-confidence
• Relieve anxiety
• Show engineering as complementing and
• supporting community, family, and self
• interests.

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3. Solutions
Values

• Make STEM classes comfortable and positive for
  girls
• Single out girls for their achievements
• Involve girls in groups, not singly
• Expose new ideas with familiar ones

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3. Solutions
Values

• Encourage everyone to value the
• importance of technological literacy
• Heighten respect for technology
• among the general public
• Sensitize engineers to the social
• consequences of their work

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2. How can we change stereotyping and
cultural bias?
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3. Solutions
Cultural Bias

• Emphasize roles women can and do
• play in science and engineering
• Strengthen connections between
• organizations that deal with women
• in STEM courses and careers.

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• How do we make STEM
• educational experiences
• more enticing and
• nurturing to girls?

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3. Solutions
Schools and Classes

• Effective STEM teaching methods
• Hands-on activities
• Cooperative teaming
• Real-world contexts
• Exposure to people with STEM careers

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3. Solutions
Schools and Classes

• Effective STEM teaching methods
• Team problem-solving
• Necessary individual attention
• Challenging environment
• Multi-dimensional curriculum

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3. Solutions
Schools and Classes

• Provide more informal education experiences
• Museums, clubs
• After school programs, summer camps
• TV shows, books, web sites
• Hobbies, toys, vacations

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3. Solutions
Schools and Classes
Use alternative methods in STEM courses and
activities

• Homogeneous and heterogeneous student
• groups
• Have students find their own math strategies.
• Integrate writing and math

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3. Solutions
Schools and Classes
Hold elective fairs, visits to tech labs,
product shows Install a strong M/S/T
elementary curriculum
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3. Solutions
Schools and Classes

• Stress active, cooperative learning
• in primary grades
• Use drawings, journals, dialoguing

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3. Solutions
Schools and Classes

• Improve teacher pre-service and in-service
  training
• Provide good career paths
• Well-prepared in subject
• Develop sensitivity in working with girls

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4. How do we provide role models, mentoring,
and networking for girls interested in STEM?
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3. Solutions
Mentoring
Mentoring is modeled consistently in real
world situations and students who participate as
mentorees go on to become mentors.. (Suiter,
2006)
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3. Solutions
Mentoring
Provide job shadowing or work experiences.
Enroll high school girls as mentors of
elementary school girls.
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3. Solutions
Role Models
Hire more female technology teachers Girls
and boys must see women and girls reflected and
valued in the materials they study. American
Association of University Women, 1992
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3. Solutions
Role Models
Arrange for successful women in STEM careers to
visit classes Bring in women engineers to tell
informational stories about what their profession
entails.
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3. Solutions
Networking

• The key is to identify girls interests at an
  early age, provide them with the opportunities to
  learn about math, science, and technology, and
  link them together in a support network to keep
  them motivated.
• Sally Ride
• astronaut, NASA, and founder of
• The Sally Ride Science Club

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3. Solutions
Networking
Create support networks to increase students'
self-confidence and feeling of worth to the field.
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5. How can we provide STEM career information
and experiences for young girls?
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3. Solutions
Careers
Provide more information to students, parents,
educators, and guidance counselors about careers
in STEM.
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3. Solutions
Careers
Better information about technological careers
could have broken down stereotypes about "male
occupations" and fears expressed by some girls
about the physical demands of jobs. (Silverman
and Pritchard, 1995)
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3. Solutions
Careers

• Emphasize career exposure, not career choice.
• Involve girls in activities that show what
  people working in different science and math
  careers do.

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3. Solutions
Careers
Schedule time for girls to "just talk" to each
other helps them to find out that there are girls
"just like me" National Engineering Week, 2004
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3. Solutions
Careers
Involve girls in activities that show what
people working in different science and math
careers do.
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3. Solutions
Careers

• Provide resources that include career awareness
  and career planning assistance and opportunities
  to interact within and across disciplinary fields
  and sectors of the economy.
• (National Science Foundation, 1997)

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6. How can business and industry help
create gender equity?
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3. Solutions
Business and Industry
Corporations can increase internships and
professional development opportunities, expand
the teacher corps to draw participants into
teaching from industry, and use technology to aid
classroom teachers. Jackson, 2002
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Business and Industry
Install an energetic recruiting policy in order
to enable scientists and engineers from
under-represented groups to participate in
raising career awareness in the schools.
American Association of University Women,
2003
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Business and Industry
Promote engineering education and careers to
girls, their parents, and educators.
American Association of University Women,
2003
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Selected References
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American Association of University Women (2004).
Under the Microscope A Decade of Gender Equity
Projects in the Sciences
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Bob Claymier District Technology Center Delaware
(OH) City Schools 621 Pennsylvania
Avenue Delaware, OH 43015 Ph [phone]
claymibo_at_dcs.k12.oh.us