Science World, High School Girls, and the Prospect of Scientific Careers, 1957–1963

Abstract

A host of scholars have illuminated the ways in which schools and other institutions have created and then sustained a vast gender gap in the scientific professions. Many of these studies have focused on overt discrimination: deliberate efforts by men to prevent the entry of women into scientific pursuits. Others have identified subtle and culturally mediated processes that have often led girls away from scientific courses and careers. This article examines rhetorically lofty, but qualified, efforts to encourage women's interest in science, and it demonstrates how even these attempts may have contributed to the gender gap in the scientific professions. Specifically, it focuses on the portrayal of women scientists in a high school science magazine,Science World, and analyzes its ambiguous messages to high school girls about the possibility of careers in science. This essay employs ideas about curricular self-selection and the formulation of career aspirations in interpreting the depiction of female scientists in issues from the time of the magazine's founding in 1957 to 1963, the year Betty Friedan publishedThe Feminine Mystiqueand the symbolic dawn of the liberal feminist movement. During these years, the United States government funded numerous educational initiatives in response to the Soviet Union's launching of Sputnik to attract more students to the scientific professions. In addition, professional scientists revised high school curricula in physics and biology to foster public rationality, critical thinking, and greater appreciation of scientific inquiry. The late postwar era also marked the beginning of greater female participation in the sciences.

Gender and multiculturalism at school: the NESB girls’ voices

“…Girls' ascription to binary and stereotypical views of gender in relation to sport (as in mathematics and sciences) suggests a resistance to the notion that there are many ways of being a girl and a woman, that 'femininities' are multiple, complex and shifting in their composition and hierarchy (Macdonald, 1997;Povey, 2004a;Svender et al, 2011). Such stereotypes, when not examined guide teachers' and students' expectations and influence the set-up of such subjects, reinforcing the students' perception of gender as somehow natural, as previously discussed, and the girls' perception that they are often outsiders in those school subjects (Hanson, 1996;Kenway et al, 1997;Macdonald, 1997;Povey, 2004a;Shaw & Frisby, 2004;Terzian, 2006;Svender et al, 2011 achievement at school as a pathway to better positions in the workforce, and how to develop their full potential as both human beings and citizens through schooling (Kenway et al, 1997;Johnson, 2002;Mills et al, 2007). The next document was Gender Equity: a Framework for Schools in 1996(MCEETYA, 1997Johnson, 2002).…”

“…Interestingly, Marin told me she underperforms in mathematics while her mother affirmed that she is a high achiever in all subjects. This perception that girls underachieve in mathematics is often reported in research (Wiest & Johnson, 2005;Fine, 2010) and it is the myth that feeds girls' later decision to opt out of mathematics-and science-based courses (Hanson, 1996;Terzian, 2006;Mendick, 2006). High achievement in mathematics seems to remain associated with males and masculinity and seldom as part of any construction of femininity in Western countries (Mendick, 2006).…”

“…In the last 30 years much research has been conducted to identify gender issues in education around the world and in Australia (Kenway et al, 1997;Vianna & Unbehaum, 2004;Povey, 2004a;Preston, 2004;Terzian, 2006;Mills, et al, 2007;Yates, 2008). Australian studies have also evaluated local programs focusing on gender (Kenway et al, 1997;Education Queensland, 2004;Mills, Martino & Lingard, 2005;Charlton, Mills, Martino, & Beckett, 2007).…”

“…The suggested changes have included supporting girls who succeed in non-traditional sports, promoting non-competitive sports for both sexes and giving boys and girls the same amount of attention and time in sports, among other suggestions (Macdonald, 1997;Shaw & Frisby, 2004;Svender et al, 2011). Another historical discussion among feminists concerns women in science and mathematics, in response to girls reporting lower achievement than boys and enrolling in high-level science and mathematics subjects and courses at a much lower rate than boys (Hanson, 1996;Terzian, 2006;Mendick, 2006;Cousins & Mills, 2014). Consequently, even though there has been improvement through the years, the majority of girls still do not choose careers in mathematics and high science (Poole, 1986;Collins, Kenway, & McLeod, 2000;Wiest & Johnson, 2005), holding the belief that high achievement in science and mathematics is associated with males and masculinity and is seldom a part of any construction of femininity (Mendick, 2006;Cousins & Mills, 2014).…”

“…Such stereotypes (when not examined) guide teachers' and students' expectations and influence the set-up of such disciplines, reinforcing the students' perception of gender as somehow natural and the girls' perception that they are often outsiders in these subjects (Hanson, 1996;Kenway et al, 1997;Macdonald, 1997;Povey, 2004a;Shaw & Frisby, 2004;Terzian, 2006;Svender et al, 2011 (Hanson, 1996;Terzian, 2006), while English was viewed as a social subject with friends' (usually females) support being fundamental to learning (Oliver et al, 2003;Yuen & Cheung, 2013). Therefore, even though most girls were originally more familiar with mathematics than English, they found an environment in learning English that possibly incidentally, mostly catered to the qualities often associated with femininities and girls in their country of origin and Australia, namely, collaboration and sociability (Povey, 2004a).…”