Yesterday I wrote about the lack of women in science and how all-girls’ schools have the potential to fix this problem. But, like I said, because there are still so few female science, technology, engineering and mathematics leaders, there are few role models for young girls to look up to.
According to NYTimes.com, many of today’s female scientists not only attended single sex schools, but also “a significant number had scientist parents.”
Irène Joliot-Curie is a great example of an accomplished female scientist who witnessed first-hand all that women could achieve. The daughter of two-time-Nobel Prize-winner Madame Marie Curie and her scientist husband Pierre Curie, Irène followed closely in her mother’s footsteps.
According to MyHero.com, Marie put such great importance on Irène’s education, that “she even formed a special ‘school’ for Irène and the similarly gifted children of other academics when the local schools proved too easy for Irène’s early and obvious talent in mathematics.”
Irène later assisted her mother on numerous occasions and, like Marie, married a fellow scientist, had a daughter, who also became a scientist, and won her own Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Here’s a case of an extremely gifted girl who learned from her mother, “I can do that too.”
But girls who don’t have scientist parents often have trouble finding a role model. M.I.T. mathematics Professor Gigliola Staffilani told NYTimes.com that “the lack of role models worries her. It reinforces a view that for girls, well, math class is tough.”
To combat the stereotype that computer science isn’t for girls, the women’s student organization (Women@SCS) at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science developed a presentation for middle school, high school and undergraduate students designed to excite all students about the computer science field, show girls there’s a place for them in computer science, and “offer new images of the field and the people in it.”
M.I.T. Sloan School of Management Professor Lotte Bailyn told NYTimes.com that in order to further combat stereotypes, “we need more TV shows with women forensic and other scientists.”
The three female leads on the popular FOX TV show “Bones” do just that. They are all beautiful, intelligent, tech savvy scientists, who run the show and aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. The main character, Dr. Temperance Brennan – based on forensic anthropologist Dr. Kathy Reichs’ life and the main character in Reichs’ series of novels – is what knol.google.com calls “an extremely rational person that always finds a scientific reason for everything. … Dr. Brennan is an extremely beautiful woman but would be considered more masculine because of her rationalizations.” Rather, I think that her thinking style and looks demonstrate that women can be beautiful, brainy and successful scientists.
Portraying strong, brainy, female scientists on TV supports the Women@SCS’s message in surround sound. If young girls aren’t getting the message that they can do anything in school or at home, they can still get it from the media.
What do you think? Are there enough female scientist role models for young girls these days? If you have children, how do you show them they can succeed in anything?
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