In today's class, one of our topics was about gender stereotypes of scientists. As an Asian female student who studied Pure and Applied Science in college and Mathematics in university in Canada, I never heard or felt any stereotypes around me in these schools, or I may be not sensitive to it. I could recall that girls performed as good as boys in STEM courses. So I think the root of gender stereotypes mainly come from families.
Few days ago, my sons' teacher asked her students during the zoom morning meeting "what the favorite type of book do you like to read?" Almost all boys answered Science and almost no girl chose Science. When parents choose books or toys for their children, their gender stereotypical expectation will likely affect their children's subject preference. It is not always true that girls want to play with Barbie dolls and boys want to play with toy cars. Teachers, especially elementary teachers, could use all kind of activities to stimulate students' interest in different subjects. There is no "Male" subject or "female" subject. Every student could pursue their favorite one.
I think we should not expect equal numbers of females and males in a specific subject as long as they are provided equal opportunity in education, so less females taking STEM could be also normal. I personally will celebrate the day when we do not need to emphasize "Female" identity in a matter but discuss the issue regardless of gender and sexual orientation.
No comments:
Post a Comment