Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 1, 1994 TAG: 9408020017
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
Nine-year-old Lily May had no trouble talking and laughing at Montgomery County Public School's summer science camp held last week. She said she was more comfortable because the boys weren't around.
"Sometimes when you're in a regular school class, the boys laugh at you," the Margaret Beeks Elementary fifth-grader said. "They feel like they're better than you in science, so they laugh."
For Lily and 13 other fifth- and sixth-grade girls in Montgomery County, the Enrichment Summer Camp was their first chance to learn science and math in a girls-only setting. Co-sponsored by the Blacksburg area branch of the American Association of University Women, the science camp was an effort to relieve girls of the pressures they often feel when they are with boys.
"In school, our teacher will let us play math games and she'll divide us into girl and boy groups ... and the boys always think they'll win," said Gilbert Linkous Elementary fifth-grader Laurel Hudgins. "But that's not true. We win as much as they do."
Laurel, a 10-year-old with long hair and a big smile, said she always thought that "science was a man's job," but now knows "that's not true anymore." Still, she added, "I think that girls don't have as many opportunities as boys do."
Other youngsters at the science camp had similar complaints.
"When I've raised my hand to answer a question, the teacher always calls on the boy before me," said Caroline Seagle, a talkative 11-year-old who will attend Blacksburg Middle School in the fall. "And the teacher always calls on a boy to help carry heavy things. That makes me mad because I arm-wrestled a boy and won."
Emma Hayes, who has professed science to be her favorite subject, said she doesn't like working in groups with boys.
"They don't always try as hard, and then they get the same grade," the 10-year-old Christiansburg Elementary fifth-grader said. "I want to get good grades, but the boys like to go and talk to their friends at the other tables."
Sound like boy-bashing?
The AAUW released a report in 1992 called "How Schools Shortchange Girls" that supports the girls' complaints. The report compiled data from numerous studies throughout the United States.
One study revealed that females, more than males, doubt their confidence in math. Another study showed that while a 9-year-old girl may have as much interest in a science activity as a 9-year-old boy, she is less likely to participate in that activity because she is self-conscious. Yet another study showed that girls interpret problems in math and science as personal failures and drop out of those classes more easily than boys of the same aptitude.
Paula Wilder, president of the Blacksburg AAUW, said the girls-only science camp is a step in the right direction toward correcting gender inequity.
"We're finding that girls don't make life and career decisions when they're 22 - these implicit decisions happen when they're very young," Wilder said. "But there is a lot we don't know yet about girls' needs, a lot we need to learn, and the camp was a good start."
Jon Utin, a Blacksburg Middle School science teacher, was the only male involved in the week-long science camp. Utin had attended previous AAUW gender conferences in which girls-only classes had been introduced as a possible learning tool. Based on observations in his regular classrooms, Utin thought the Enrichment Summer Camp would be a good place to experiment.
"I'd like to think I'm good at being equitable, but all teachers want to think that," Utin said. By teaching three science camps - two coed classes and the one for girls only - Utin was able to observe the differences among the groups. The camp included hands-on science experiments that required measuring, following directions and using a little creativity. The pupils built model rockets, two kinds of kites and paper airplanes. All three classes were identical.
"For the most part, [the girls] haven't acted much differently, but one thing I've been pleased with is their willingness to just try something and see what happens," Utin said. "Boys tend to do that more easily."
While Wilder said research has shown that girls need more female role models in science-oriented professions, having a man teach the girls-only class is not detrimental.
"There are lots of outstanding male teachers out there, but our real concern is having teachers - male or female - who are aware of gender differences," Wilder said.
The girls didn't seem to be bothered at all by Utin's presence.
"Mr. Utin is, like, not a man," Caroline said. "He's a kid. He teases us, but not like the boys. He teases us to be fun, the boys do it to be mean."
The other girls chimed in, each with their own story about Utin and how fun it is to learn about science but have fun at the same time.
Kristen Boling, a rising senior at Blacksburg High School, worked as an assistant at the science camps, and she too, saw some differences between the groups.
"With the boys and girls, no one asked any questions, and at the first chance, they split like oil and water," Boling said. "This week, the girls are asking more questions, they want more reassurance that they're doing things right."
Wilder is neither surprised by Boling's observations, nor by the comments made by the younger girls.
"There's a lot of research on that and the data is pretty clear," Wilder said.
"It's consistently true that teachers call on boys more often, but that's because boys tend to impulsively raise their hands'' Wilder said. ``Girls tend to hold back until they're sure of themselves. And they don't want to ask questions for fear of ridicule."
Wilder said teachers need to make sure they wait a few moments to give the girls in their class more time to answer the questions.
While Wilder concedes that the achievement levels and the ability level differences are relatively small among fifth- and sixth-grade boys and girls, the differences get larger over time as the children grow up.
"Obviously the girls don't score as well on the math and science because as they get older, somehow they lose confidence and stop taking the advanced classes. That's our goal - to get girls to continue to take advanced math and science. Whether they are scientists or not remains to be seen."
by CNB