Q. It seems that as they grow older, girls tend to stray away from science more than boys. What do you think of this tendency?
Science Festival (courtesy of Sally Ride Science)
Science Festival (courtesy of Sally Ride Science)
It’s really interesting. It’s definitely still true, but over time it has become less true. Society has a certain set of expectations - "boys should be like this, while girls should be like that" - and people tend to adopt those current views. I think that a lot of the reasons women didn’t go into science in this country is that they were not expected to. A girl growing up in the 1960s might have loved science in elementary school, but by middle school or high school started to realize that, well, that’s not really what society expected girls to go into. They would look around and not see any female scientists or very few female engineers, and would just almost naturally therefore move into something different. That accounts for a lot of the difference, and a lot of the reasons that girls back in the 1970s and 1980s did not go into science in the numbers that boys did.
And now we’re at a stage where there are no obstacles for girls. There are female astronauts. There are female rocket scientists, female environmental engineers. I mean, there are women in every area, but some of the old stereotypes are still there, some of the old teachers still picture a scientist as a man who looks like Einstein. Teachers do still have that image, they do. And teachers do not know very many actual living scientists or engineers, much less any living female scientists or engineers. It’s the same with our television shows, and a lot of the culture. And so we still lose more girls than boys, actually starting right about at that middle school age. And a lot of it is just because of the kind of messages that they’re getting from society or their peer group. The other students might think it’s unusual for a girl to say she wanted to be an engineer. Students that age are very smart, and they pick up on these things very quickly. And if they think that their teachers or their friends think it’s odd for them to go in this direction, it’s just very important for them to appear normal at that age. Therefore girls go away from science. Q. At Sally Ride Science you’re putting a lot of emphasis on science education for girls. What exactly are you doing? One of the things that we try to do, in all of our programs, is try to make it obvious to girls that this is a very normal thing for them to enjoy and be interested in, and that there are thousands and thousands and thousands of girls like them who are really interested in science and engineering.
We also introduce them to role models - show them pictures or examples of women who’ve gone into everything from the astronaut program, to microbiology, medicine, environmental sciences - so that they can see somebody who used to look like them who has gone onto these careers, to almost humanize these careers for them. And we’re getting a really good response to this. Apparently, we’re already seeing that it’s making a difference.
Q. What responses are you getting from teachers who have participated in the training programs?
We think that changing the teachers, or their images of careers and lifestyles, is important. In this respect, teachers that we’ve trained are saying that this was very important and valuable to them; that it’s changing some of their techniques and practices in the classroom. That they’re making changes even in what they put on the walls of their classrooms, and how they talk about careers. It’s already made a difference to them.
Q. In Japan, teachers are also looking for ways to get kids interested in science.Do you have any advice for them?
Science Festival (courtesy of Sally Ride Science)
The things that we found are, first you need to make the science relevant to the kids’ lives, to the things that they’re interested in and aware of. They often think that science is rather abstract, that it’s important but not really important to them and to their lives. And so you have to make connections to things that they see every day, things that they realize could have an impact on their community or their lives or the country.
I think all those things are important. And then also what I was saying before, humanizing science for them. Show them examples of real people who are still alive, who are interesting people, who are people that they can relate to or that they want to be like. I think that can really make a difference.
Q. In that sense, Dr. Ride, you yourself must be a very good example, a very good role model for the girls. Have you found that your career as an astronaut is one of the reasons for the success of Sally Ride Science?
On board the space shuttle Challenger, as the first American woman to fly in space (June, 1983) (courtesy of NASA)
I think it probably is, maybe for a few reasons. One is that, because I was an astronaut, people know me. But also because I was an astronaut, my background is in science. My field of study was physics, and so I was a young girl very interested in science. And that made me appreciate that there are lots of other young girls who are interested in science. And it gave me some insight into what kept me interested, what motivated me, what fascinated me. I think that’s helpful. It also helps because, when I’m talking to teachers or students, I can talk about my own experiences, what had me interested, what teachers were able to do for me, to help me become a scientist or to have the confidence that I could go on to become a scientist. So I think that my background has been very helpful, both in my having a better understanding of what we’re trying to do, and also having more credibility and visibility. I think people are interested in my story and interested in why I’m doing what I’m doing now, and I think that helps make an impact.
