Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 8, 1993                   TAG: 9306080331
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SCHOLARSHIPS

Whether these are fair criticisms is, at the least, questionable.

But something seems genderly amiss when three out of five semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarships are boys, even though well over half of high-school students taking the qualifying exam are girls.

If the exam, the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test, is not biased, there must be some other explanation for why girls tend to score 50 to 60 points lower than boys. When girls on average get higher grades than boys in both high school and college, it's hard to figure.

Perhaps what's reflected is a continuing problem not with the test, but with education, preschool through 12th grade: a subtle dissuasion of girls from interest in challenging academic endeavors.

As Elaine Detweiler of National Merit Corp. says, "If girls are getting better grades in home economics or things like that, they're not better prepared" - or even as well-prepared as boys - to take the PSAT.

In studies and reports, the American Association of University Women has documented the problem of sex bias in schools. Girls are, in countless small ways, discouraged from pursuing an interest in math, science or technology because old attitudes hold that they can't possibly (or don't need to) do as well in these fields as boys. Parents, peers, and some teachers (ironically, a female-dominated profession), still cultivate this notion.

The bias against girls, the AAUW studies suggest, can result in lower self-esteem and confidence. It can cut short girls' ambitions for certain careers, can convince them they are destined, and should settle, for low-skill, lower-paying jobs in the future.

Might it also account for some of the disparity in PSAT scores, and mean fewer college scholarships for girls? Again, no one can know for sure.

The National Merit Corp., which oversees National Merit Scholarships, shouldn't dismiss out of hand complaints that the PSAT itself discriminates against girls. It should ascertain that the test is gender-fair.

But, meanwhile, all concerned - particularly educators and parents - should rededicate themselves to assuring equal educational opportunities for girls and boys. The world is too competitive a place to limit the full potential of half the country's young people with old attitudes supporting old glass ceilings.

Correction

A SENTENCE in Monday's editorial misidentified the office Marsha Fielder is seeking. She is the Democrats' nominee for commissioner of revenue in Roanoke.