Girls + STEM

The National Science Foundation found that while over 60% of girls love science and math, less than a third of them will major in these disciplines.

This statistic brings to light the question: Why aren’t our girls pursuing STEM fields? Research has found that a major barrier for girls in school is stereotype threat. Stereotype threat is a situation where a person feels pressure while performing a certain task because they believe they will be judged due to their identity in the environment they are in. Stereotype threat is felt regardless of the individual’s characteristics and qualifications.

Harvard experimented with this concept by testing two groups of college-aged women, one group was reminded of their gender by reading an article about how boys outscore girls in math and science SATs before being given a math exam, while the other was simply given the math exam. The results of the experiment were clear, the girls who were reminded of their gender identity before testing significantly under-performed compared to those who simply took the test.

This lowers girls confidence in the classroom and adversely affects their test scores.

Now that we know why girls aren’t reaching their full potential in STEM, how can we combat the impeding factors that prevent their growth? What we have found at Mathnasium is that when you remove the pressures of grades and competition between classmates, girls are able to explore their passion for math, ask questions, and grow their knowledge and confidence. These elements combine to not only help push girls to excel in the classroom, but also consider extra-curricular activities to grow their awareness of the STEM fields.

(Book Recommendation: Whistling Vivaldi)