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Second week of discussion: Self-confidence and STEM career choice
I like to welcome the SESTEM-community to the second week of discussion! This week we will focus on Self-confidence and STEM career choice.
The following questions are important in terms of self-confidence and career choice in STEM:
Both girls' and boys' self-confidence is a crucial aspect for the career choice in the STEM field.
1. How to provide confidence and encourage girls on these disciplines?
2. Which should be the role of parents on this aspects?
3. Is the introduction of successful feminine profiles or professional as role model, enough?
We are looking forward to your comments on this topic and a lively discussion!
Comments
Dear all
I totally agree with Divinia's statement on the second question:
"2. Which should be the role of parents on this aspects?
My perspective is that it's all about education and the position of teachers and parents when encouraging girls to explore and be familiar with STEM topics."
According to our findings of the qualitative studies in particluar parents and also STEM teacher could have influence on pupils' interest for STEM subjects. A lot of female students of STEM reported that they have got some STEM specific support by their parents whit e.g. technical toys or arthmetic problems.
As Gemma and Bernhard mentioned before, the increase of girls' self-esteem and self concept about STEM abilities should be also taken into account by their teachers because girls often underestimate themselves in these subjects.
This is my modest personal view:
1. How to provide confidence and encourage girls on these disciplines?
2. Which should be the role of parents on this aspects?
My perspective is that it's all about education and the position of teachers and parents when encouraging girls to explore and be familiar with STEM topics.
3. Is the introduction of successful feminine profiles or professional as role model, enough?
Well, it is necessary but probably not enough. I think that girls need also to "play" somehow these roles, by actively conducting related activities... Shall we call it "encouraging by doing"?
Davinia
This is my modest personal view:
1. How to provide confidence and encourage girls on these disciplines?
2. Which should be the role of parents on this aspects?
My perspective is that it's all about education and the position of teachers and parents when encouraging girls to explore and be familiar with STEM topics.
3. Is the introduction of successful feminine profiles or professional as role model, enough?
Well, it is necessary but probably not enough. I think that girls need also to "play" somehow these roles, by actively conducting related activities... Shall we call it "encouraging by doing"?
Davinia
Hello all,
The self-confidence regarding STEM abilities also differs among Spanish girls and boys. We agree that feminine successful profiles are useful to go against stereotypes and enhance self confidence, but it is not enough.
It is important to observe teachers and parents attitudes regarding young people abilities as the sociocultural influences enhanced by mass media, textbooks and the whole learning process that institutions supported. Many studies results show that from primary school, a gender division of knowledge is taking place…and here researchs and action lines must taken place.
Despite the academic success of girls, that in general is higher than boys, I think it is necessary to observe what images of masculinity and femininity are children bringing with them into school as what are the dominant images of masculinity and femininity that the school itself reflects to the children.
In this context, increasing advice and information to pupils, teachers and parents for demystifying STEM careers and abilities by sex and encouraging non formal learning activities from home and the school can be possible actions to go against prejudges and enhance young people self-confidence in "non traditional" subjects/studies. .
In our studies we found, that about 80% of the boys estimate themselves as being better in STEM as girls butonly 25% of ther girls agreed to this statement. Most of the girls were indifferent with respect to this. However, test results say that there is usually no difference between boys and girls in average.
In contrast, nearly 80% of the boys and girls stated that girls are treated better in STEM than boys.
Both results show a vicious pattern for boys and girls. Boys overestimate their capability, invest therefore less effort and learn on a sub-optimal level. On the other hand, gifted girls tend to attribute their good outcomes resulting from a better reatment by the teacher.
1. How to provide confidence and encourage girls on these disciplines?
* reflecting the stereotypes and help boys and girls to get to appropriate atributions of their outcomes, e.g. by reattribution training.
2. Which should be the role of parents on this aspects?
* supporting their cildren to come to appripriate self-esteem, e.g. by talking to the teachers about the performance compared to the class average.
3. Is the introduction of successful feminine profiles or professional as role model, enough?
It is one important aspect to overome stereotypes, but not enogh to work on self- confidence
Thank you Gemma and Claudine, your initiatives sound very interesting! Reaching the mass media and popular culture I think is a very good strategy.
I would like to ask you how parents and pupils responded to your actions overall, if you met obstacles or stereotypes you did not expect and if you had any way to evaluate the outcomes of these initiatives.
Stella
The members of the French association Femmes & Sciences have been acting as role models in secondarty schools for 11 years and have produced a diaporama "Girls and Boys, Dare Science and Technology" evidencing the variety of careers around an everyday item such as the mobile phone: see http://www.femmesetsciences.fr/diaporama/diaporama.html
In the conclusion we encourage girls (and boys) by saying that if they dare, they can enter these fields, as the people now in these jobs were just like them when they were teenagers.
We also understood that the encouragement and self-esteem has to be first pushed by the parents and teachers, for them we produce the booklet "Women and science, beyond stereotypes " (Femmes et Sciences...au delà des idées reçues" which popularizes researches from Social sciences and Educaton sciences :see
http://www.femmesetsciences.fr/Documentation/ideesrecues.htm
Now parents have a major role in this self-esteem process. To reach parents, campaigns through mass medias would be necessary. i heard that at DG Research they are considering to do one in the next years...
Hello all,
It was difficult to find the place to intervene in this interesting forum. I found it!
Well in my opinion, as secondary school teacher and woman, interested in how I can help my female students to be interested in science, responding to the first question "how to provide confidence to girls", I would say that I try to avoid to the masculine association of science careers and professions. It is a matter of confidence, spending time with them along the whole course showing that they are able to study science careers, explaining them that the professions related to science are now more different and diverse than the ones in companies and factories they can see in their families or in TV, textbooks, etc
Another thing I do is when I organise visits to science centers or companies, I ask the responsibles there to be a woman with technical responsibilities who takes care of the visit.
Thanks!
Gemma Vilanova
In Greece it became evident through the qualitative research that girls simply did not believe they have the same abilities or opportunities as the boys. Therefore, the issue of enhacing girls' self-esteem seems to be a crucial step to attract more women in STEM.
The role of the parents was found to be inderectly influential, meaning that even when pupils claimed they had no external influence regarding their career choice, data showed that they did not deviate greeatly from the profession of their parents.
Pupils coming from lower classes or rural areas were less interested in STEM and their parents had negative attitudes regarding women working in STEM, as the dominant belief is that they will not be able to combine family and career.
Providing more female role models to pupils might not be sufficient, as the socio-cultural environment is complex and large, but it is still important to challenge the belief that women are not as good in STEM as boys. Maybe it is not the solution, but in my opinion women scientists, famous and not, should become more visible to motivate positive change in attitudes. This can be done by including biographies of famous women scientists in school text books, for example, or by thematic workshops.
1. A lower selfconcept of girls regarding the STEM-abilities and low self-confidence seems to be a important issue in German schools. some pupils reported that the STEM classes would be more interesting for them if the STEM-lessons were more practical oriented and the topics were addressed to both gender equaly (e.g. in physics: how does a mobile phone work?)
2. Parents could encourage girls to consider special offers (for girls) in STEM e.g. at a "girls day" at university or companies and see if they like it or not.
3. This would be a great idea for schools but pupils schould get the opportunity to get in touch personally with the female STEM-professional. Maybe a visit of the place of work is interesting for pupils to get an idea about the profession.