tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post27533838621025672..comments2019-05-15T23:59:20.159-07:00Comments on Feminist Legal Theory: Why women continue to be underrepresented in STEMLisa R. Pruitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16469550950363542801noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-7594122201381134122015-02-09T13:31:21.103-08:002015-02-09T13:31:21.103-08:00I agree with you that many initiatives that seek t...I agree with you that many initiatives that seek to encourage women to enter into STEM fields do not sufficiently address the implicit biases against women interested in these fields. For many women interested in STEM fields, these biases can be traced back to childhood in the subtle messages that their teachers and parents give them. As Hart's comment demonstrates, teachers have subconscious biases when grading girls versus boys in math and science courses. As for parental biases -- for example, parents tend to buy their boys legos and their girls dolls. Boys create buildings and train tracks and model airplanes, while girls dress their dolls and brush their hair. I've also witnessed some of my adult relatives discourage their female children from entering into STEM fields (engineering, mainly) for fear that their children will have lower opportunities for success in a male-dominated field, making female underrepresentation in STEM fields a self-perpetuating problem.Ahvahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09501966626250076790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-18801474839694935762015-02-09T13:29:37.723-08:002015-02-09T13:29:37.723-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Ahvahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09501966626250076790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-562702255772708482015-02-08T13:55:05.658-08:002015-02-08T13:55:05.658-08:00A couple of days ago, The New York Times published...A couple of days ago, The New York Times published an article talking bout the harm of discouraging young girls from STEM fields. It mentions one study where elementary school teachers sometimes subconsciously grade young girls harsher than they grade boys in maths and sciences. They also actively encourage boys more than they do girls in those subjects. When the exams are graded anonymously, young girls often outperform young boys. <br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/07/upshot/how-elementary-school-teachers-biases-can-discourage-girls-from-math-and-science.htmlAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09354780104849024443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-86055935972031995172015-02-04T02:44:54.849-08:002015-02-04T02:44:54.849-08:00Damon, that is a great point you've brought up...Damon, that is a great point you've brought up. How women are seen first as women, and their professional accomplishments are secondary. I struggle with how we can eliminate the pattern you described. Unfortunately, it's an easy, accepted route (sexist actions/thinking) to "other" an entire group, and reserve resources and prestige for the individuals stooping to such tactics. As long as there are enough people willing to buy into all this, using sexist and racist stereotypes will not be discouraged to the degree necessary for substantial changes.Jessica S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13966553584000077340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-79417150982057872382015-02-03T14:10:23.964-08:002015-02-03T14:10:23.964-08:00It's almost unbelievable when you think about ...It's almost unbelievable when you think about it. If you scrutinize history you are hard pressed to find famous women in almost any field of human creation (science or art). Moreover, when women do happen to enter a scientific or artistic avenue, they are generally given pre-determined sexist gender roles that they must fulfill, or suffer being marginalized. <br /><br />A woman, it appears, in any field, must first be a woman and then an artist or a scientist. A man is simply human, and is. Of course, here I speak very abstractly. The question is how can we alter the pattern of things so that women artists or scientists will simply be seen as artists or scientists, not as women scientists or artists. How do we remove hyphenation?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06223806309227236626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-85964204974593299922015-02-02T21:04:49.246-08:002015-02-02T21:04:49.246-08:00I agree that stating that women need more encourag...I agree that stating that women need more encouragement than men to enter STEM professions without acknowledging the additional challenges that women face is harmful. The discrimination and discouragement toward women entering these fields is precisely the reason that the encouragement the President described is now necessary. This needs to be reframed as a field in which discouragement and discrimination toward women need to be removed. Sarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01247871189345137671noreply@blogger.com