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Re: How To Recruit Women to Tech and IT Classes



Haven't we had this discussion before? Still, I might as well speak up. I agree with Rick:

Rick Tarara says:
There seems to be enough gender differences in learning
styles that we need to be concerned with instructional techniques that are
too narrowly aimed at particular styles which may put either women or men at
a disadvantage. So the gender issues are not in the Physics, but in the
doing and teaching of physics.

And I am interested in reading the book Dewey has suggested, but I am particularly caught by Jim Green's statement:

Jim Green Says:
"Anti-promoting"??? I don't see any physics instructor standing in front
of her/his class and saying "Folks, physics is a lousy field to be majoring
in, try the law, or maybe engineering" Of course if a male instructor
said something like "Ladies, physics is a male field; stay away, he would
be fired and maybe sued. If a female instructor said this, that would be
ok, but I can't see a female physicist saying this to female students. I
don't know what would happen if a chemistry instructor said the likes of
this. <g>

What "anti-promoting"?

I know a female physicist who told me and a friend of mine NOT to get a PhD in physics, that it wasn't "worth it." Granted, that was just after she had finished defending her dissertation, or whatever it was that she was supposed to do to obtain the degree. However, she loves physics. I love physics, and I know other women who love physics. But I do not want a PhD in it, nor do I want to get one. Is it because a particular person "anti-promoted" physics to me? No. It is the system and process. I like having a social life, for one thing. I like earning enough money to go out to dinner and go on vacation. This is tough in graduate school. I also have a clear idea of how I learn best and what teaching styles I respond to best, and while problem sets are somewhat useful, they are not MOST useful, or efficient, at helping me understand. Also, when I was an undergraduate I always knew I wanted to teach.
So has physics been "anti-promoted?" No, the system "anti-promotes" itself, because of the way it is. Can it be changed? possibly. Can you convince more people from under-represented groups that the rewards of physics outweigh the hardships? perhaps. I will remain skeptical, becasue systemic change is very difficult...you are dealing with an established culture, in small enclaves around the world. You would have to change University culture, not just physics department culture. Yikes.
Meanwhile, I will continue to teach my high school classes and I will be honest with them. Yes, physics takes hard work and time and patience to truly understand. Yes, I love physics, and the feeling I get when I realize something that I did not understand before, because of physics. MOST of my students, male and female, do not particularly like physics. There's not a lot I can do for that, except to keep them active, and keep my material as relevant as I can. A few of my students have told me after the fact that my class helped them appreciate science more than they used to, and some of these have been female. I'm not sure I can hope for much better than that.

Fran Poodry
Williamstown High School
Williamstown, NJ