Parental involvement
I confess to reading "Women's progress in face of challenges" in my husband's April 2005 copy of symmetry. Despite my educational background in business, I've always been interested in science. When our daughters' elementary school started after-school enrichment classes, I signed up to teach science. Eleven years later, I'm still there. We live in an affluent area where many, if not most, mothers have college degrees, but over the last decade, I've averaged about 2/3 boys, 1/3 girls in my kindergarten classes. I watched one girl in tears, asking her parents to let her quit gymnastics so she could take science.
Only twice have I had more girls than boys in a class, once when a Girl Scout leader offered to personally take her troop members home after class, and once when one girl convinced several friends to come because she didn't want to take it alone. Several times I've had one or two girls in a class of 15. Only the most outgoing, science-fascinated ten-year-olds can handle that. Until our culture, and our parents, encourage girls to develop an interest in science, they will be underrepresented from kindergarten on. Nature may be a part of it, but nurture plays a role, too. By the way, our older daughter is studying computer and software engineering, and our younger daughter is hoping to major in bio-mathematics.
Marlys Stapelbroek
North Tustin, California
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