Girls tend to be attracted to more social careers – which is part of the reason so few of them are attracted to math and science careers, says a University of Michigan psychologist Jacquelynne Eccles. Adults need to show girls that people in these careers work in teams and use social strategies. “We as a culture do a very bad job of telling our children what scientists do. Young people have an image of scientists as eccentric old men with wild hair, smoking cigars, deep in thought, alone. Basically, they think of Einstein.” Showing girls a better view could make a difference.
Reading Education, Gender Issues
Meanwhile, at least one person offers some insight into the reported differences between girls’ and boys’ reading progress. Groups of boys, especially minorities and lower income white males, are behind girls in reading ability, and are more likely to do poorly in school. But in a Philadelphia Inquirer article, Michael Smith, professor in Temple University’s College of Education and co-author of Reading Don’t Fix No Chevys, said that it isn’t that boys aren’t reading. The problem is that what they like to read – comic books, video game manuals, sports magazines – are not used or valued by educators. One East Coast school has adopted an elementary reading program that uses some books boys love – such as Captain Underpants -- to increase their reading skills.
Sheryl James is a mother and freelance writer, based in Brighton, MI.